Divine Reckoning
by Zemptai
Summary: A spiteful little man ends up dead and pissed. Finding himself before the judgement of a 'God', and granted a 2nd opportunity at life, he was reincarnated - reborn into the Hyuga clan. Mina now finds 'herself' in a female body with a goal to survive this war torn world to defy and spite the self-proclaimed 'God' she's given the alias 'Being-X'. [Dark/Antagonistic MC] [Semi-SI/OC]
1. Chapter 1

**Article 1 - Chapter 1 - The Cycle of Disappearing Faith**

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 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

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 _ *****Pre-Chapter Notes and Warnings*****_

 _ **...**_

 _ **This story eventually HEAVILY diverges from canon. Every little change causes ripples to form, completely changing the trajectory of the plot. Hopefully this will be a refreshing feeling for you guys as you have an opportunity to experience something new.**_

 _ **The OC has Antagonistic tendencies ; they won't always find themselves on the right side of morality. Also characters will not have the standard plot armor you might expect - The world of the ninja is far too unforgiving…**_

 _ **If either of these facts concerns you, THEN THIS IS NOT THE STORY FOR YOU. It will get DARK. After all, how can you appreciate the light if you have never known darkness?**_

 _ *****Content Warning:** Mild profanity **,**_ _Gore, violence, war, mental health issues (both acknowledged and ignored), unhealthy friendships, child neglect, mental & physical abuse, and generally dark stuff._ _*******_

 _ **(You've been warned.)**_

 ** _As the story progresses, I definitely feel like it will transition into a M rating, but it isn't quite there yet. (Mostly due to language and violence.)_**

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 **EDIT: (2/10/2018) - Made changes to the story, writing structure, and combed through the chapter for mistakes. I probably will still miss some stuff, but I hope you guys enjoy the work I spent polishing the story.**

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

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┬┴┬┴┤ **Chapter 1** ├┬┴┬┴

I won't argue to you that I, as an individual, are sound of mind. Who else could so stubbornly stand in defiance at the will of a divine entity - other than a psychopath.

Religion's conception was posed to explain away that which we can't reason with logic and science: Such as what happens to the human conscious (or what some might call the soul) after the physical body dies. Some believe in an afterlife of sorts, while others believe souls are reused, flowing in a cycle of reincarnation and rebirth.

All I know for certain, is that I reject God's existence, from both realistic and rational perspectives. Any being that could stand by and watch the unfairness of life without inclination to help is unworthy of such a title. A being such as that is more in likeness to a Devil...

...

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I've been alone in this dark abyss where in every direction I look there is no substance or light to be found. I can't remember how or when I arrived. Confusion and panic originally overcame my psyche while I tried to rack my memories, however nothing could drudge them back - it was as if they simply couldn't be recalled.

I thrashed my body around, discovering it's weightlessness and lack of materialism. I could touch nothing, I felt nothing, not even myself.

Fear and panic completely enveloped me, but fear eventually shifted to acceptance, and in time acceptance became apathy.

I have long since lost my track of time. My sanity's slipping away, little by little, forever being locked away into this eternal, timeless nightmare.

Suspended in this void, memories began to come back slowly. More and more were excavated from the crevasses of my mind.

The incessant nothingness tearing at the fabric of my persona, I wasn't certain if I were real, or if in fact I ever truly 'was'. The memories I found - possibly were never actually mine.

I came to the conclusion that I was not, so therefore I could feel not; My reverse engineered answer to the black abyss whose seemingly always kept me company.

My final living memory was eventually located, playing like a recording. Over and over, in the same torturous and damning cycle.

 _Hope is an existence that can't survive in a timeless environment._ (This is of-course only my opinion. My personal answer after extensive observation and self-reflection.)

Had anyone else had been in this situation, could be fully expected to have attempted prayer, at least before discarding their hope. My pride and understanding, however, wouldn't let me call out to any being that could call themselves a god after the life I lived.

Even my life had been stolen from me by what I am convinced to be certain divine intervention.

 _'I was struck down in cold blood.'_

Any such being who could be called a god, especially after their inaction, logically would have at least refrained from meddling in the affairs of humans - _The existence I remembered meeting **could not have been a god.**_

-As those thoughts streamed through my mind, my surroundings blurred and balls of light began streaming from the far edges of visibility.

Shock and wonder spread through me as I noticed the first change in my environment since arrival.

The balls of light jumped around energetically, appearing at the outer reaches of my vision in all conceivable directions. The balls all drawing ever nearer. Slowly but steadily.

 _'If I had a heart, I'm sure it would have been pounding in anticipation.'_

I closed my eyes in resignation.

' _Perhaps this is my soul passing on?'_ I wondered while my eyes clenched shut.

The muscles which strained to keep my eyes shut relaxed as more and more light bled through the eyelids alerting me to the approaching and intensifying light.

 **"You truly have no faith."**

My eyes jerked open at the voice, but all that I could observe from the surroundings were the balls of light, still drawing ever nearer. I opened my mouth to speak, but as I did, the balls quickly bolted towards and into my mouth as if it were a vacuum.

Panic.

The fear more pure and powerful than any I had ever experienced in any memory. My throat swelled. I felt myself choking. A body frozen like ice, only able to expel noises which escaped from my throat. The foreign entity seemed unable to be dislodged.

My instincts quickly overwrote my fear. Mindlessly, I attempted performing the Heimlich maneuver, having completely forgotten that my body was immaterial. The hands slid right through my abdomen, into the center of my being.

The lump in my throat shot down, reaching the same location of my trapped hands. Attempting to leverage my strength, I tried pulling my hands back out, but nothing could cause them to budge.

Now stuck inside my abdomen, my hands began shining blindingly.

Streams of light burst out from my abdomen. Each stream moved in its own direction in a completely linear path. Watching was difficult as my eyes had difficulty surveying anything now that I was effectively blinded.

With only faint white and black blur for vision, I struggled harder to free my hands, desperately I would say. No matter how much force I pulled with my hands refused to budge and instead began pulling harder and harder. Slowly my arms began being sucked inside with no escape.

My abdomen gripped both arms like it had a mind of its own. It seemed intent on pulling them all the way inside. It didn't stop even after my back folded over and my shoulders reached my stomach. Completely folded by the spine, the rest of my body was awkwardly sucked inside.

My vision completely disappeared.

Every memory that I had ever made played in the recesses of my mind inhumanly fast like a cinematic. My childhood, adolescence, and adult experiences whirring by in flashes, even the memories that I didn't know existed and had long forgotten. It was as if I lived my entire life in that one moment.

My mind felt weak and ablaze afterward, pain unlike any I had experienced throughout my life rang out. Pressure from every conceivable direction felt like it was compacting my brain… If I even had a brain anymore.

 _Perhaps my mind uninhibited by the processing power of a physical brain allowed me to experience every memory simultaneously and in an instant._

I heard the same voice ring out acoustically inside my head: **"You deserve nothing, so you receive nothing."**

Anger blotted my mind while the ever present pain overwhelmed my senses. Intense heat pulsated out from what I could only describe as the core of my being.

"Am I to believe that you are GOD?!"

 **"... You are, I suppose."**

"Impossible, I reject the idea of God from both a logical and philosophical standpoint."

 **"You are before me, yet you reject my existence?"**

"No, not your existence, just your job title. Any being that could stand by and watch the unfairness of life without inclination to help is unworthy of such a title."

 **"The birds once flew high and sung praises to the heavens... Now birds flock in cesspools of arrogance without true appreciation"**

"Why sing any praise when you struck me down in cold blood?"

 **"Your time expired, It is the only reason I showed myself to you."**

"I don't believe it! You tampered with my entire life because of my lack of faith didn't you?!"

 **"One of such little faith, deserved not my attention."**

"I am a man who prioritizes logic over faith. Why would I waste time in prayer when I can be proactive myself? Working for my own aspirations? Why appreciate the inequality in life when you expect me to believe you hold the power to change it yet refrain? -Or do you actually hold no such power?"

 **"You have seen my might... yet you doubt my ability?"**

"If you could change it, I see no reason to instead passively watch from 'up high' while unfairness and inequality runs rampant, correct? —Any being that could do that is unfit to call themselves a god. Therefore it is only logical to conclude you must be an existence akin to the devil... For clarity, I'll refer to you as Being-X."

 **"I see... So your complaint is due to your ability to meet your own needs and a lack of my visible action? If I provide you with this, your faith will awaken?"**

"What? — Don't you think it's a little late? You even killed me! Beside's, what use would there in be proving a god's existence to a mere mortal like myself. Your intentions seem far too petty."

 **"Those who deserve nothing… receive nothing... But perhaps this one time, I will make an exception."**

"I do not acknowledge you, nor do I have any plans to. To me you are, and will never be more than Being-X."

 **"...We will see. This time, I will treat you as fairly as you deserve. This will be your 2nd life and therefore your last chance. Make sure this is... entertaining for me."**

"Didn't you say I deserve nothing, what changed?"

 **"Don't disappoint me."**

...

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

—My conscious woke, completely unaware of my surroundings. A warm moist sensation enveloped my entire body, so soothing and relaxing. I tried moving but I hardly had any control, and after some trial and error, I only managed to flex my fingers.

I didn't have the energy to move, or even pull my eyes open.

A rhythmic thump sounded, each time the slimy walls constricted around me before again relaxing. It felt natural... the pattern. It continued with a over and over with an accompanied _thump_ sound. I was so tired. The sensations lulled me to sleep.

...

After some time, I came to the conclusion that I was a baby, still inside a mother. My eyes still refused to open yet, and I couldn't determine If I was even breathing myself. The lack of energy my body had kept me limited in how long I could truly think before losing all will to be awake and pass into unconsciousness again.

An insurmountable amount of time passed, what felt like an eternity of drowsiness and reserving my strength.

I began fumbling around, intent on escaping this prison which contained me. I was going to see a new world which was going to be influenced by this _'so-called-god'_.

The thought was equal part exhilarating and terrifying. The self-proclaimed god was quite vague on what his interference in this world would be, but with being granted a lease on a 2nd life I would at least need to check it out.

I no longer felt content just laying and preserving my strength, I pushed my feet out pressing against the walls. A quiver and muffled moan met my ears afterwards and despite knowing what I was doing I repeated my actions again and again.

My effort seemed to go rewarded as I started to break my way through. A tunnel opened blinding me. A tinnitus-like ring sounded in my ears while a pair of rubber feeling gloves helped me finish the escape. The outside world was disorienting and I became fearful after realizing that with all my effort I couldn't pull air into my lungs, struggling in gasps.

I was struck on the back with something and a sharp stinging pain caused my lungs to expand filling them then emptied them with a reflexive whine.

Well, I could at the very least breathe now, but my eyes were far too underdeveloped to focus with so much light around, so I instinctively squeezed them shut.

I remember being lifted away and manhandled by many people, likely the medical staff. They spoke but the ring in my ears drown most of their words.

The words I heard through the ringing still didn't let me identify which language It was. A sharp pain appeared at the end of all my fingers. Gasps resounded around me and I was whisked out of the room after being placed on my back on top of a chilly metallic cart. I was brought somewhere else, prodded with needles and stuck with papers that clung to my body.

Even without my eyes I could feel my skin attempting to close and re-tear as I kicked and fidgeted in misery. With each beat if my heart I could feel warm liquid ooze from the openings. I heard voices filled with concern bicker back and forth likely trying to diagnose the problem or discuss ways to fix it.

I was kept secluded from my family for some time until a plethora of tests was ran on me. I kept my eyes shut tight the entire time out of fear of what I would see. It seems the worst of it was over so I pulled together as much courage as I could and lifted my eyelids. A bright white blur was all I could make out, until I had a few moments to adjust to the outside world.

I wasn't ready for what I saw next.

Bone was sticking through my arm and hand, and the skin around where it protruded was scabbed and swollen. My own bones were sticking out of my skin and I was only an infant. Positive I hadn't come out this way, I couldn't reason how this could have happened to me. What experiments had I been subjected to?

The doctors and medical staff all wore gloves but even being touched by them I could feel no protruding bones from their hands, _I was a freak — somehow I was born or made into a freak._

Perhaps this is what the being who called themselves god meant, that he would make sure I'd get exactly what I deserve — misery.

It was at that moment that the godlike being was ever-cemented into my mind as 'Being-X'

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

The medical staff manifested a green glow from their hands which felt warm and tingly to the touch, and started to repair the damage to my skin.

They covered my body in paper with kanji printed on it which I could only assume was to block one of the only words I understood them say "chakra."

 _Impossible —I could not have been born into the Naruto-verse._

As much as I wanted to reject the idea, the evidence was quite convincing.

Felt cheated by 'Being-X' for the 2nd time, I closed my eyes resigned to never open them again.

I could feel them filing down the protruding bones from my hands and arms and went over for the last time with the warm aura of medical ninjutsu. After the operation was completed, still wrapped in the Kanji encrusted fabric strips, I was reunited with my parents.

Curiosity overcame me as I could no longer keep my eyes shut out of spite.

I looked into my mother's face and saw white, near pupil-less eyes, much to my surprise. I instantly recognized the staple of the Hyūga Clan and was overwhelmed with the idea that I too would have those eyes. They would be useful in navigating this world torn with violence and war. My silver lining in this world of Shinobi.

Upon ending my introspection, I caught the emptiness of my mother's eyes and the scowl that pursed her lips after looking down holding me. She bit into her lip drawing blood and passed me back to the doctors ushering them to take me away with her hands.

The face was so full of disdain and disgust. I couldn't understand why… _perhaps I was born without the byakugan?_

Torn, I scanned the room for anyone else, but no one else was here besides the medical assistant that reunited me with the woman that birthed me.

Even to my own mother... I must have been a freak — a mistake. I could tell from the raw unfiltered emotions which flashed upon my mother's face. _'A face even a mother can't love huh?'_ I thought to myself.

I briefly wondered If i had underwent some type of experimentation from Orochimaru, but as I had no idea what time period I was born in, and how close this world resembled the cannon story I remembered. Pushing that out of mind I turned my gaze back to the nurse who held me. Noticing that I was staring at her, she gave me a pitying frown.

I was hauled back away. Away from my mother, away from the person who should have cared for me unconditionally.

I could only think about locking away any love in my heart and surviving, surviving and eventually thriving just to spite that damn Being-X.

...

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 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama here, I've read a lot of self-inserts among the Naruto community lately and decided to make one for myself. This OC will not be 100% of my own personality or experiences, but how I might imagine I could become if I lived through all the experiences that the OC lived through. Neglected by god and forced to be trapped in a intangible abyss would not do wonders for one's psyche. **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Article 2 - Chapter 2 - My Secret Misery**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **If what you're looking for is a happy go lucky OC that always finds themselves on the right side of morality, or the standard plot armor for any character… THEN THIS IS NOT THE STORY FOR YOU. It will get dark. After all, how can you appreciate the light if you have never known darkness? (You've been warned.)**_

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 **EDIT: (2/10/2018) - Made changes to the story, writing structure, and combed through the chapter for mistakes. I probably will still miss some stuff, but I hope you guys enjoy the work I spent polishing the story.**

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┬┴┬┴┤ **Chapter 2** ├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(6 months later...)**_

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

Sprawled out in my comfortable crib, I watched my mom leave the room with a scoff, her long hair black as midnight trailing behind her every step.

I reached out for her hair, it was mesmerizing...

 ** _Kshhht_** \- the door slammed behind her.

The room was bland, being composed of wood paneling of questionable taste and devoid of much decoration.

I had started to realize that there are some tendencies that seem inescapable. As much as I'd like to believe i'm fully an adult of mind, Much evidence proves I can occasionally be very childish. These certain inclinations, likely arising of instinct rather than intention.

When I first saw my mother's eyes, I believed that being born into the Hyuga clan would overall be a blessing. _I was wrong._

The compound was filled with overly observant people who had the capability to see through walls. My freedom was so infringed on my spirit felt stifled. The future of this world scared me, yet I could still only find myself hoping time would pass by quicker.

I wanted to be old enough to leave the compound by myself and escape the feeling of being drowned in the stares of the all seeing Byakugan.

My mother had just came in to peel me off the side of my crib while I was hanging from the banister attempting to develop finger dexterity and strength. She likely thought I was trying to escape my crib, it would be a understandable theory after seeing a baby pulling itself up the railings.

She had peeled me off the side of the crib several times, just opening the door to peel me off then leave again. No words, no love. The only thing I could depend on in this world would be my own strength, and I'll be damned before I stop, just because this woman could see me through the walls.

I tried several times to activate my Byakugan or call upon my chakra to no avail. It seems the seal that was placed on me at the hospital blocked off my access to my chakra but I didn't fully understand why. I could barely understand any the common tongue which by now I had expectantly identified as Japanese.

I fidgeted around trying to gain better control over this body. I began working through a regimen I developed for myself, deliberately isolating muscles - flexing and holding them for 5 seconds at a time. My bodies ability to keep up with my brain was slowly getting better and better. I figured the neural pathways used to send signals to my muscles were growing much stronger with my regimen through diligence.

In my past life I remember researching Shaolin monks. Fascinated, I tried to understand how with a diet composed of mostly carbohydrates, (and the distinct lack of resistance weight training equipment) how they managed to build such strong and flexible bodies. In all honesty, I envied them. Wishing to incorporate some of their training methods to become my own.

I hadn't always been a fitness fanatic, in fact most of my childhood and adolescence I paid zero attention to my diet and body, instead focusing entirely on building my mind and keeping myself entertained.

That changed after falling in love with the sport of Basketball. (Despite my disadvantageous frame of 5'7.) Having such a small frame, paired with an untrained and unruly body, I knew that I was already far behind the competition. I poured my soul into training, establishing a nutritional, cardio, and resistance training regimen to add the explosive physicality to my game that I was lacking.

Eventually through dedication, I completely changed my body composition. I was now dominating in my desired area of expertise.

Before graduation from high school, I had made a bit of a name for myself, even finding myself interacting with university scouts despite my genetic limitations.

Although a great many scouts took their time with me, they all mostly still had reservations because of my size. They asked to know my family tree up to my grandparents to see if they could expect anymore growth, and in the end I found myself with only offers from smaller time programs.

I was outraged, but determined to prove my worth. I accepted a scholarship from a small time program in hopes to be recognized. After accepting I wasn't even handed a starting position on the team. I dug ever deeper and the minutes I did play I racked up statistics and showed great promise.

I was able to claim the starting spot and began dominating in Division 2. My dreams getting closer and closer, until reality slung me back to the cold ground.

My eyesight was deteriorating fast. Upon closer examination, I was diagnosed with advanced macular degeneration. I visited several physicians who all recommended that I quit contact sports.

I cursed the existence of any god that listened for taking my love from me, my passion. Sealing it away as a career I could no longer feasibly pursue.

The Irony that Being-X would reincarnate me into this world with a dojutsu kekkei genkai, which handed arguably the greatest visual prowess possible was not lost on me. I resigned myself to train in this world until I have the power to survive and claim true freedom. My genetics can no longer hold me back from this goal. I had decided my goal so early that I would have a head start over every other non-reincarnated person in this world. I needed to exploit it as hard as possible and prove myself to be a genius so that I can have access to greater opportunities.

That's the only way I could spite that damn being-X, I'll show him!

… err 'It' i guess?

I began stretching out my body, which unlike my last life, was now female. I would definitely need to develop unparalleled flexibility to help offset the fact muscle would be harder to build in this body than If it were male.

A wider range of motion assists in the production of force, so even if my muscles aren't as strong, It's still possible to see similar levels of force production.

I continued working my body until I felt sore. I eventually exhausted my stamina, and the pangs of tiredness caused me to nod off to sleep.

After some weeks of this I was returned to the hospital, but the person who brought me was not my mother, but instead my caretaker Musagi. The hospital staff inspected me and finally decided to release my seal preventing me access to my chakra.

As soon as the seal was removed, I was pelted by the pressure of the chakra all around me, even in the air causing my lungs to feel full of gas making it extremely difficult to breathe. After noticing my reaction they put me into a sort of chamber mostly devoid of chakra and left to be reintroduced to chakra slowly. I sat in the hospital for another 2 weeks having been diagnosed with chakra hypersensitivity due to the first 6 months of my life with the majority of my chakra blocked.

I couldn't fucking believe it. Here I was for the 2nd time being diagnosed with something debilitating which would inhibit me from my career path. I was brought back home and more Hyuga clansmen than I'd seen in all my 2nd life visited me with looks of disappointment painted on their face.

 _Stop looking at me like that!_

 _-Don't look down on me, I'll make you regret it! I'll still be a shinobi! I'll be a shinobi or die trying…_

It was after that thought that a terrifying revelation occurred to me… Perhaps that is what Being-X wanted me to do the entire time. My heart skipped a beat and my chest seized. I began flailing about and one of the clansmen looking at me picked me up and tried to console me.

The force of his chakra leaking into me through his touch made my skin tingle. He began tugging on my pudgy little fingers and poking at my belly causing me to giggle.

I didn't want to giggle, as stubborn as I am I tried to fight against it, to suppress it.

I couldn't.

...

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(1 year later...)**

 _ **(Age: 1 Year 8 months-ish)**_

 _ **...**_

Over the past year, I continued my physical training, gradually making it progressively harder to push myself. My mother hardly interacted with me outside her clan duties and I could tell no average mother would try to distance herself from their child the way she has.

I took it to be a challenge, and I began hanging around my mother trying to get her to show me any affection. Her cold gaze would fall on me no matter what I would do. I tried to make her laugh, to pity me, I even cast aside my self respect and tried cutesy things, but to no avail.

She had somehow become too hardened. She treated raising me like a responsibility she would have gladly given away in an instant had she been presented the opportunity.

I had began speech lessons to learn the native tongue with several of the side branch's children. Another excuse for me to see my mother even less. Most of the kids in class seemed disinterested and unmotivated, but this was an opportunity I couldn't afford to waste.

There was one student in the class who worked harder than the rest, and picked up on the content much faster than even I.

I walked over to his table and sat in the empty chair next to him. He looked over, eyes of curiosity.

"Hi, my name… is Mina. What is your name?"

The kid smirked arrogantly, standing from his seat. His body was much taller than mine at the time, towering over me. He seemed intent to gain a height advantage, peering down since he was standing.

"I am Neji Hyuga, I have never seen you around, but I'll have you know I'm already being called a prodigy."

I felt my mouth curve into a frown. I almost didn't believe this was Neji, but I should have expected no less in this world. The 'animation' I remembered didn't do this world justice. Even more so, there wasn't much screen time for the young version of the Hyuga genius.

I could feel heat rise under my skin under the towering gaze of the boy, so I was determined to one up him. I slid out of my chair and place a foot on top of it standing up and looking back to Neji. It was now me who towered over him in comparison, and I leaned forward to look down on him. I noticed the bulge near his temple and how he scrunched his face together out of anger.

"You might be a prodigy, but I will become the prodigy of prodigies. An unparalleled genius."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, nearly causing me to jump out of my chair in surprise. Quickly, I swiveled my head to meet the eyes of the instructor which had silently crept behind me.

"Miss Mina, you will have your work cut out for you. Neji here was even more advanced than yourself when he was your age."

I glanced back to the boy in time to see a victorious smile plastered on that dumb face of his.

"How old is Neji-kun?" I asked.

"I am 4 years old." He answered then folded his arms together.

"Help me be better than him then. I swear I won't rest until I get it right."

I didn't know what I expected of the man, In all honesty my poor self control was more to blame for my outburst rather than any strategy to gain attention. The instructor began laughing with vigor then met my eye again. _I would stand my ground here, it's not some joke, I will do it._

I puffed out my chest and met his gaze with as confident of a smile as I could manage. Being taken seriously in this body before I was even 2 years old would be difficult. I got a reaction because the instructors eyebrow visibly raised in what I considered equal part disbelief and curiosity.

The instructor grabbed me by the hand and lead me off the chair.

"Careful little one." he said.

I was tugged to the front of the room and he whipped a free chair in front of his desk in the front of the room. The stares of the entire class fell on me and I reveled in it. I would need to capture the attention of my peers and let them know that we were not equal. _That I was special._

It was at this moment that it dawned on me, I was not even 2 years old, and Neji was already 4. The brunt of the influential ninja's from my memories were of Neji's year and one year lower. This only served to motivate me more, I needed to soak everything spec of information and technique I could in order to just survive.

I was given much more material to complete than any of the other kids near my age bracket. Spoken and written language was difficult, especially as this wasn't my primary language as much as I wish it could have been. (Or at least I wished that English was the primary language here.)

I think that my big mouth would get me into trouble, as after the class finished everyone left I was asked to stay. I gave a curious look at the instructor and he only pointed at the stack of sheets I had yet to finish.

A smile formed on the mans face and I realized what was going on.

I was being granted what I wanted, but he was doing it in a way that meant to punish me. He wanted to show me my arrogance no doubt, probably meant to drill into me that I didn't know what I was getting into and that he would show me the full wrath of a scholar.

Little did he know that I was likely the most motivated individual that he had ever met, and had more knowledge than any 2 year old should ever have. The foreign language was difficult to learn yes, but once I gained mastery over it, I was sure that I could establish myself as exactly what I claimed.

The hours on the clocked passed one by one, and the smirk that the instructor had to begin with slowly disappeared off his face and instead a look of surprise and enjoyment replaced it. He had probably not expected me to enjoy the lesson, In fact it seemed that with every hour that passed he wanted to add more tasks and give me less clear instruction. It became very apparent he wanted me to quit for the day of my own volition but I could be stubborn too. I refused to give in, to even give an inch.

I wanted to be recognized for my determination if nothing else, what kind of teacher would turn away a student who earnestly wanted to learn, and whose determination allowed them to sit still and receive instruction for 6 hours straight before the age of 2 years old.

It seemed that our battle of wills had concluded, The instructor gave in first telling me that this was enough for the day, but then he said expect the same tomorrow with a grin that no doubt would frighten kids who despised schooling. I returned the most bright smile I could before leaving "Thank you sensei!"

I reached the door and turned around, giving him a friendly wave, before turning my back and exiting the room.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips and I stretched my limbs out after being locked in that chair for so long. I didn't hate schooling, and it was absolutely necessary so I at least needed to pretend like I loved it. I also made a mental note that It seemed sensei was warming up to me too.

I began walking down the hallways to reach the living quarters of me and my mom. It was starting to get late and I wondered to myself if mother had already gotten home. She stayed out of the compound a lot and I was tended by other members of the clan in her absence. I often heard my handler criticizing my mother, one time I had managed to overhear them talking to another clansmen saying he considered her 'unfit to raise me'.

Before rounding the last corner on my journey to my living quarters I felt a familiar chakra presence. I peaked out from the corner and saw the form of a child sitting with his eyes closed next to the door to my home.

"Neji-kun?" I blurted out.

He opened his eyes looking up to see me then stood to his feet. The flow of his chakra had changed after noticing me. I couldn't see it with my eyes but I could feel it, like some inexplainable extra sense. I could normally sense someone close to me and if their chakra was familiar I could make out who it was.

He reached for the back of his head and started messing with his hair. It would seem even the child genius could be shy and nervous.

"Uhh… I wanted…" He struggled. I could tell that he wasn't used to this whole socializing thing and regardless what he wanted, I wanted to befriend him as it would definitely be mutually beneficial.

I couldn't feel my moms chakra inside.

I shut my eyes and gave him a big smile. I slid the door to my home open and signaled for him to come inside. I glanced around quickly before confirming that my mother either wasn't home or was shut up in her room like she often did when she wasn't caring for me. Neji followed with uncertain footing, likely reasoning out whether he should have accepted my invitation inside.

"It's okay." I said. "Mom's usually out and I could use the company."

He looked surprised at my statement. I'm sure if I was in his situation I would have thought that sounded like neglect too, but it became my standard life and it became easier to accept. If I was hungry I could get the family cooks to prepare food. If I needed something I could either get it myself or ask for someone's assistance. It became obvious to everyone how self sufficient I was becoming, and I was allowed to take on more responsibilities for myself as I proved that I could.

Being self sufficient granted me privileges and a degree of freedom I was sure was abnormal. It was a lonely existence, but I was overall thankful that it wasn't worse. Neji sat down next to me at the table and I decided that I should break the ice.

"I think it's so cool that you take your studies so serious." I spat out.

 _Oh no… there I go again saying things without thinking…_

A smile appeared on his face at my statement though. "I'm expected to be a mighty ninja. To be a ninja you must be strong both of body and mind."

I nodded quickly to agree with him. "Yeah, I want to be a ninja too!"

He frowned at that but didn't say anything. Obvious to me he was suppressing his opinions, I stood up and pouted. "What? You don't think I can?"

He met my gaze for some time and his eyes dropped to the ground.

"I…" He started.

Now angry at this point I wanted to expose him. I wanted to say something akin to an attack to fend off the uneasy feeling I got as he seemed to give me a look of pity. I ultimately decided against this as I was worried I would never hear what he wanted to say.

"You what? - uh, you can tell me. So, out with it."

"My father told me that you were unlikely to become a shinobi. He said that you are chakra hypersensitive and that…" It seemed like he was fighting with himself with how he was going to word the rest of his statement before finishing with, "most people with that condition are unfit to become shinobi."

My heart dropped in my chest. I felt my animalistic instincts want to destroy things, to rip the pictures off the walls and toss them around. Thank goodness I had enough self control to stop myself from the childish impulse as I bit into my tongue so that I could reign in my focus.

"Well I'm not most people." I said.

After hearing that he cut in with "-Indeed you are not." in a hardened voice.

"Right, I'm not. The same way you are destined to be a prodigy, I'm destined to be the prodigy of prodigies. Nothing will keep me from this short of death."

Surprise flashed across his face as he looked dumbstruck. I couldn't prevent myself from laughing despite the serious nature of how I said my words. Seeing Neji in such a state of shock and disbelief was comical, especially when comparing it to the life I knew of. My outburst of laughter cut into the serious atmosphere and Neji's face started becoming more pink and flushed. I could tell he was becoming flustered and embarrassed.

I slapped his shoulder and flashed a grin at him.

"If your not diligent I'll surpass you in no time."

A cocky grin spread on his face at my words. He lifted a hand up to my face and replied with "In your dreams shorty."

"You don't think so? Then you wouldn't have a problem helping me train? After all, If you aren't afraid of losing your status of only genius among the up and coming generation then It should be no problem correct?"

Neji winced at my words. Meant to be perceived as both a taunt and proposal, I hoped the pride Neji wore like a badge of honor wouldn't let him decline. _'I should have him just where I want him'_ I thought to myself while trying to suppress the devious grin that was trying to make its way across my face.

"You are not even yet 2 years old and you are already insufferable."

"But brilliant right?" i prodded.

He seemed to mull over those words before meeting my eyes with his own. His eyes were so full of intelligence. I could see him scanning over me trying to calculate something. A grin appeared on his face and he finally spoke.

"It would seem I have to teach my kohai some respect."

I couldn't restrain my excitement and charged at Neji trying to give him a hug, however with a swift spin, he managed to nimbly avoid my charge and suddenly I had passed by him.

I tried to stop on a dime, but my feet were too far behind my body which was leaning and traveling forward.

 _NO!_

My face was approaching the ground fast as I reached out and threw my legs into the air stabilizing myself from a handstand and landing on the ground.

I was surprised by how fast my legs reached the ground. Unable to absorb my kinetic energy my knees buckled and I landed roughly.

His eyes of curiosity ran up and down my body, and the fact that I had been male in my past life made it feel a little awkward. Trying to escape from those feelings I lifted myself up and sprung to make a second charge, this time even more determined to grab a hold of him.

He swatted my hands away each and every time I approached, and managed to get behind me. It was actually awe inspiring having this kid nimbly evade me while making it look so easy. In another sense it was also humbling as it showed how much further I would need to improve.

I chased Neji around my home for some time while we both taunted each other and laughed. After I ran around and tired myself out I heard the door open. I quickly turned around to see my mother enter the room. Neji stopped on a dime having seen her and bowed to the woman in respect.

"Hello mother, this is my friend Neji-kun."

Her eyebrow lifted as she looked from me to him, then back to me again. Her eyes so cold and removed like none of this actually concerned her.

"Mina-kun, You should prepare for bed and tell your friend goodbye, It's already getting quite late."

"Yes mother!" I said before turning to Neji. "It was a pleasure meeting you and I can't wait to see you again! Thanks for coming over Neji-Senpai."

I was sad that he had to leave so soon since I wouldn't actually sleep for some time, but as a Hyuga I was expected to obey and I didn't want to disappoint her. She could arguably make my life hell, but instead she let me do as I saw fit within reason.

The words came out surprisingly smooth despite not liking the idea. I could bare with anything along my journey to gain power. I was born into the branch family of the Hyuga so it was a matter of time before Neji and I both would receive the caged bird seal even if he didn't yet know. I needed to gain strength and knowledge as fast as possible just to be able to survive in this world… and even more If I wanted to have any freedom.

Only S ranked ninja's could eventually disassociate themselves with their village safely enough. More than anything, even in this body which was not yet 2 years old, I craved that freedom. I wouldn't allow any handicap's to deter me from this. I would do whatever is necessary to advance, and now I finally had made a friend who could help me tremendously on that road.

Compared to Neji the other children my age or even close to it were trash. They frivolously wasted their time like I'm certain I did in my first life. The saying rings true, _Ignorance is bliss_.

Neji bowed again to my mother before taking his leave. My mother helped me bathe before sending me to bed.

Lying awake on my mattress, I went over the days events in my head. I regretted not being able to focus on physical training as much as I wanted to during the day, but a good majority of it was spent on learning and building a bond with sensei.

 _I'm sure the bonds I establish now will help me greatly on my journey, but I had to be selective on which bonds I would choose to cultivate as unimportant 'trash' would simply be a waste of time._

After my internal monologue I thought for a moment how concerning it was that as much as I wanted to, I could not come to see the children around me for the most part as anything but trash. They barely warranted pleasantries and certainly didn't deserve my respect. Perhaps this disposition was only toxic and arrogant, but in the end it would help me focus on the bigger picture.

I reached under my mattress and pulled one of the leafs I had hidden away out, sticking it to my forehead. Meditation and chakra control training was always the hardest for me. Every time I began trying to channel chakra, a numbing vibration would overcome me, to the point it was ticklish and I would begin laughing.

Irritation and exasperation often overcame me when I was trying to train to use chakra for this reason. It was incredibly difficult to maintain my focus as each time I giggled the flow broke and the leaf would detach. I had been doing this every night I could. The sensations of vibration and sensitivity had slowly diminished, much to my excitement. It would seem that my hypersensitivity could possibly be managed. The more I forced myself to meditate and be aware of my chakra, and repetitively channel it, the less my side effects from my sensitivity hindered me from training.

6 months ago I was unable to hold the leaf to my forehead for even 10 seconds at a time. My best being approximately 8 seconds and my average time about 3-5 seconds each. Now I could keep the leaf held for about 2 minutes before my sensitivity caused my focus to wane. If I stay dedicated I was sure that eventually I could overcome this crippling debilitation and wow my clan despite the adversity from Being-X that I faced.

A smug smile appeared on my face as I felt content with my progress so far. I would gain expert levels of chakra control and attempt to build my chakra reserves as well as I could. I knew that chakra was the mixture of physical and spiritual energy. I didn't yet know how much chakra I had, or how much an average kid around me should have had, because despite trying hard I couldn't figure out how to awaken my Byakugan.

I remember that the Byakugan was supposed to be available at birth and the only thing that prevented me from activating it was either that I didn't understand how to force it active using my chakra, or that my control of chakra was not yet at the level that would be necessary.

A wave of fatigue washed over me as the leaf fell from my forehead again. I felt so warm and groggy that I decided it was now time for me to sleep.

I pulled up my blankets and buried my head into my pillow. I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, but even as tired as I was, my mind would not stop.

I frowned at the thought that a lack of sleep would mean a lack of physical and mental recovery, and learning and improving myself would only be more difficult tomorrow tired.

Being able to reason it to yourself, and actually having the control to be able to fall asleep were two entirely different matters though sadly.

A pang of loneliness spread over me. I wasn't able to ignore it like usual by focusing on something else. (Like training or learning.)

I looked over to my spare pillow and pulled it closer to me. I hugged my pillow and pretended it was my mom. Fantasizing about her warm embrace and a fictional smile that I doubted she would ever really show me. _I'm safe inside my own imagination to crave affection am I not?_

I briefly thought about letting go of my pillow, returning it to its rightful place at my headboard. I was coping with the lack of affection in my life in an odd way, and surely this wouldn't be healthy for me to continue. _I needed to be strong._

My eyes began leaking tears that spilled onto my pillow as my chest seized and hurt. A icy chill ran up my spine, causing me to pull the pillow further into my embrace. I cried and cried until tears would no longer come. Snot had stained my pillowcase and I felt ashamed of myself.

I rubbed the pillow against my sheets along the side of the bed where I wouldn't accidentally lay on it. The pillow was still moist from tears but I had finally reigned in my emotions enough to stop. I squeezed the pillow against me again, this time considering suffocating myself with it.

 _I could just be done with it all right now._

No, that is the weakness in me talking. Forfeiting without ever really ever trying would be unacceptable. I was miserable forcing myself to do what I knew must be done, and seeing other kids my age run around carelessly made me wish that I could too. They were lucky while I was chosen, chosen to have to rise to the top to survive the sadistic Being-X which no doubt threw me into this world with the full intent of hostility and violence.

I stretched my limbs pushing them as far away as possible. It wasn't productive focusing on all these negative emotions. I sat up and put my body through a few more stretching poses before turning and grabbing my pillow.

My eyelids felt so very heavy like they carried the weight of the entire world on them. I closed them and cuddled closer to my pillow before finally falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Article 3 - Chapter 3 - I'm Going Down, I'm Yelling TIMBER!**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **EDIT: (2/10/2018) - Made changes to the story, writing structure, and combed through the chapter for mistakes. I probably will still miss some stuff, but I hope you guys enjoy the work I spent polishing the story.**

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┬┴┬┴┤ **Chapter 3** ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

The next day I woke, I made my bed then deciding to prepare for my daily morning physical training. I stretched myself out thoroughly even favoring some of the more advanced variations after getting my circulation going and becoming warmed up. I would go to the park before many of the children woke so that I could utilize the park equipment better with less competition. As far as strength to body-weight I was becoming quite strong.

I could do as many as 6 full range of motion pull ups without the assistance of chakra reinforcement. I hung from the bars often and slowly began removing one finger at a time and holding it before pressing my luck and taking another off. I repeated this until I would finally fall hoping to gain great finger dexterity. I would need it both for the gentle fist and hand signs later in life.

Next was the tricky part, I hauled a rock on top of the monkey bars and balanced it hoping that pulling myself up wouldn't shake it and cause it to fall to the ground. I successfully got to the top without it falling off and I wrapped the back of my knees around a bar, grabbed the rock, then let myself fall and dangle upside down. I began pulling my torso towards my knees gripping the rock at my chest. A much more difficult version of weighted sit ups that I began doing a few weeks ago. After every other repetition when I reached the bottom of the movement and was upside down I would flex my obliques and turn my torso either right or left and hold the rock out to the opposite side.

I caught an adult passing by stop. Whatever his intentions were, they were now watching me in curiosity. He looked surprised, taking a moment to watch me at work before walking over.

"What are you doing young Hyuga-kun?" He asked in a kind voice.

"T-Teh-raining" i uttered through the pain of struggling against the final rep I wanted to finish.

"Training huh? Why are you training?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"I heard that sometimes geniuses are surpassed by those who work hard. So I will be the hardest working genius."

It was not a lie, however I did not consider myself a genius. I knew that realistically I only had a head start, and that every moment I wasn't working towards my goal, the further I fell behind in comparison to my peers.

I hung upside down and searched his face for any tells to help me understand what they were thinking.

"It is rare that someone so young is so dedicated. What goal do you have?" they asked.

Hmm… obviously I can't tell him that I want to be strong enough to leave the village. To get away from the people who believe the sacrilege of the will of fire to be an excuse to make children fight in wars for the authoritarian Hokage.

"I will become the strongest shinobi the hidden leaf has ever seen and protect everything I hold dear."

It wasn't a lie persay, saying that much should be okay.

It seemed the man was taken back by my response. He did not laugh, he did not even smile. He continued to look into my eyes and I met his stare with determination.

"You have lofty goals for one so young." he finally said.

"Do you doubt me?" I asked incredulously.

The eyes that stared at me held sadness, probably thinking that I was pushed to this by my clan.

"Do you doubt my resolve?" I repeated.

"...Do you?" he asked.

Taken back by his question I paused. Oh no, He's going to think I'm not determined because I paused… but why would he ask If i doubt my own determination? Surely he is looking down on me because I am so young... Or was he?

"Do I doubt my own resolve?" I clarified to which he gave me a nod. "My resolve? Absolutely not. The end result… certainly."

"You also seem quite mature."

"I AM!" I shouted back.

I didn't mean to shout… The way it came out made it sound like I was providing evidence that I wasn't mature and that contradiction lead me to feeling embarrassed.

"I wish you luck little one. It seems the will of fire burns brightly in you." he said and then he vanished before my eyes.

I scouted around the area, but no longer saw him, instead noticing a few kids showing up to the park.

 _The will of fire? HA! It seems my true skills lie in acting, perhaps I should have just decided to be a performer in my last life._

I grumbled internally thinking that I wasted my time with the encounter and could have just as easily brushed him off. I decided to go for a run to take my mind off of it.

My legs pumped hard slapping my feet into the earth. I leaned forward and always made sure that the first contact with the ground was always my toes first then rolling onto the balls of my feet moving into the next step.

Form and mechanics at the end of the day, help you direct your strength and power the way you intend. Making sure my form was as crisp as possible, especially after feeling fatigue was important. It would no doubt help develop the muscle memory to continue to have fine tune motor skills even after exhaustion.

The blood pounded in the side of my head and my lungs whole-heartedly gasped for air, yet I would not relent.

Relenting would be paramount to accepting my genetic limit. I would push past my limits, I would prove that Being-X couldn't keep me contained to a cage like a good little pet. Whether that cage was Konohagakure or my weak feminine frame. My mind was the strongest tool I had, and pushing it and enduring with willpower alone could only make it stronger right?

Drenched in sweat and the burning feeling of my lungs I finally couldn't stand it anymore. The breathing technique I used to prolong activity before fatigue crept in was becoming undone as I wheezed in huffs.

(When I run I try to breathe in through my nose to steady the breathing, trying to keep it steady. Releasing it steady was also important, but the release is of lesser importance so I exhale through my mouth constantly and controlling the exhale is the first thing I discard.)

My legs wobbled with each step becoming increasingly difficult to keep them align.

My whole body wanted more oxygen as my mouth was fully agape greedily trying to suck down as much as possible.

I pulled all of my focus that I could and was determined to just push myself a little further.

Just a little more is all I need.

 **Body I NEED MORE, JUST A LITTLE MORE.**

 **HUEEEE** -pshhhh... **HUEEEE** -pshhhh

My eyes clenched together as hard as I could to only think about maintaining my speed and form.

My right foot came down further than I had expected before finally meeting with the ground awkwardly.

My eyes jerked open and I couldn't stop my forward momentum.

My foot was stuck and it wouldn't become dislodged.

I continued to move forward even if my leg betrayed me.

 _ ***Crunch***_

Pain shot through my ankle as I stumbled forward into the dirt.

Unable to move, All I could do was pant trying to catch my breath.

The pain caused tears to rush to my eyes, but I didn't want to be defeated by my emotions again. It was different the night before when I let them out into my pillow. It seemed acceptable then, but here it spelled my defeat, that I wasn't able to persevere.

I pulled myself up and slapped my face. The noise was oddly satisfying and helped rein in my self-control. _This pain was inflicted by myself, I can control when I feel pain too._

The tears behind my eyes retreated and I celebrated my victory.

I shouted a battle cry of conviction into the air as loud as my overworked lungs could bellow.

 **"Aaaaaaaaarghhhh!"**

Birds flocked from the surrounding tree's into the air, flapping away with " **Squawks**."

I looked back down and stared at my ankle. Upon first inspection it looked fine, at the very least it didn't look like the foot was crooked in any way. I grabbed it and tried to rotate it causing a pang of pain to shoot up through my leg. I bit into my lip in an attempt to suppress my noises of pain and discomfort.

I got up, trying to put weight on it slowly, first from the tips of my toes. The pain was extreme. I noted that I would need to acclimate myself to pain again. This body was unruly, and this much pain shouldn't be felt from what I theorized was a minor ankle sprain.

Perhaps this is why children always act like it's the end of the world when they get hurt. Their nervous systems are not ready to handle the types of injuries I had sustained in my last life.

I hopped back to the compound on one leg, and instead of feeling sorry for myself I just treated it like it was training. That I could do this at least twice over if i needed to. As this thought occurred to me I laughed.

I was starting to sound like the training obsessed 'Rock Lee' of my distant memories.

"The powers of youth huh?"

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

Before I made it all the way back to the compound a Hyuga wondering the village spotted me. He approached me and then stopped in front of me.

"You are injured?" he asked.

I looked up at him and paused for a moment, looking to see if I could find concern in his eyes before responding with a nod.

"I will carry you back to the compound then." he said.

Before I could even object I was swept off my feet princess style. This was not okay, some dude just swept me off my feet and is carrying me like a princess. Sure, in this world I may be a girl, but I still had my pride.

"You do not need to go so far, the injury is minor and I'm practicing returning in case I ever injure myself again."

The look he gave me was of absolute surprise and exacerbation. I surmised that If our roles were reversed, I would never have expected someone so young to say something like that.

"Do not struggle, and do not worry. First priority is making sure your injury doesn't get worse and heals properly."

As stubborn as I am, It's definitely not something I wanted to argue on. After all, I too wanted to recover as quickly as possible.

We walked through the gates of the compound and many eyes rested on me in the arms of this man. He whisked me to the recovery wing of the main building and sat me down on a chair outside a room and knocked.

A woman answered back without opening the door "Who is it?"

"Tokuma Hyuga" he replied.

There was some movement from inside the room, a brief pause, then sounds of cabinets closing, and seconds afterward, the door swung open.

"What is the pleasure?" the woman asked in a warm intimate tone before spotting me and looking back to him.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at Mina-kun's injury if you had time."

Her eyes fell on me again as she walked over. She bent down in front of me so our eyes were level and gave me an empty smile.

"Where does it hurt little one?"

"I… might have sprained my ankle while running." I said.

She looked me over once more before pointing to both legs as if asking 'which one?'

I lifted my right leg to indicate which one was injured.

She made a hand seal before activating her Byakugan.

"Tsk Tsk" she said then turning her head to the man who called himself Tokuma. "Tear of the interior peroneal tendon." She turned her head back to me and said "It must hurt a lot. You are strong not to be crying."

"Can you please speak to me like I'm not incompetent." I found myself snap before realizing. I dropped my head, gaze falling to my lap before adding. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

The woman didn't seem prepared to hear my rebuke as she paused a moment before speaking again.

"You must feel belittled by adults, but I'm sure many do it because you look so precious."

Heat started cultivating in my cheeks as I could imagine how red I must have became from the statement. I was a grown man trapped in this little girl, of course being called precious would make me feel uncomfortable.

"Mhm… Thank you… what is your name?"

"Ayasha." she said with a much more real smile.

"Thank you Ayasha-san."

The rest of the encounter happened as one might expect, she applied medical ninjutsu to my upper foot and used her fingers to stretch out my foot trying to line the tendon i guessed. After some time and some agony, she applied some type of cream which felt very cold to the touch and rapped up my ankle in gauze. She finished it off with medical tape to restrict the movement and tells me that I handled that well before again patronizing me because of my youth.

I began hobbling back to my quarters, declining the help of either of them, overhearing them talk as I left.

"That girl is so independent… she is Yoruichi's child right?" Ayasha asked in a hushed tone.

Hearing my mother's name I began hobbling faster. I didn't like hearing the things other people said about the woman who birthed me. They were hardly ever compliments, and even though I didn't consider her my mother, deep down, somewhere inside, it hurt to hear people talk ill of her.

I arrived at the door to my home and slid it open. A small hope that my mother was home and would see me like this appeared in my mind before I killed it entirely. The window was open and a cool breeze blew through the room. In the hour or so since I had been outside the sky visibly darkened because of the heavy clouds that appeared.

I spent the rest of the day engrossed in my studies while thick blankets of rain fell on the roof with loud ambient noise. I showed up for my lessons and completed them without fail, even staying after class again. Neji didn't come over to my house again for a while, he kept saying that his father was drilling him in the gentle fist.

My schedule every day turned into the same. I woke up, stretched, went through my physical training, read, then showed up for my lessons. Meditation and chakra control exercises into the night. Each day began blending together and my greatest comfort was when I could hug my pillow close before falling asleep.

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I've felt really motivated to write lately, especially with the attention my story has already garnered. I really want to get to the point where Mina is older, but there are a few "checkpoints" that I need to cover from my timeline before I can get there. There are some MAJOR surprises on their way, and without leading up to it and showing how hard she's working I don't think it would feel earned. **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

 _ **SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to those below who left me a review, It means a lot!**

 _ **-**_ _ **Mysterious Goat**_

 _ **-NarutodaBeast**_

 _ **-**_ _ **Akira D. Ryusuke**_

 _ **-rosyhatake**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Article 4 - Chapter 4 - You Have Yet To Know Despair**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **EDIT: (2/10/2018) - Made changes to the story, writing structure, and combed through the chapter for mistakes. I probably will still miss some stuff, but I hope you guys enjoy the work I spent polishing the story.**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ **Chapter 4** ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

My second birthday came and past as if it were as elusive as the wind. My mother had baked me a cake which tasted wonderful. I would have normally declined eating on account that It would go against my macro-nutrient goals for the nutritional plan that I had been sticking too, but the fact that my mother made it - I couldn't resist.

I'm starting to think that I'm growing on my mother as she has seemed to be less miserable… but maybe that's just me seeing it because I want it.

Why do I want it? It shouldn't matter to me. This after all is my 2nd bout through childhood, surely I got enough of it the first go around.

But I still felt myself yearning… for something more substantial.

I wanted to cultivate the closeness that we had never had before so I happily ate the cake. Cherishing it in small pieces so there would always be more.

After my 2nd birthday I was allowed to begin taijutsu training with Hizashi and Neji along with several other children. All of the children were at least 3 years of age, and Hizashi told me that I was the youngest to start training in the past 30 years. Something about that statement and the way he said it made me proud even though I knew in the end I was cheating.

My head start was certainly not fair to say the least. I had beginner training in several different disciplines of fighting in my last life and none of them really stuck. I loved the confidence and power that training it brought me, but I had always been to kind of a soul to handle the violence, especially at the younger ages that I trained at.

I decided to start off by absorbing the gentle fist in its more pure state. I tried pushing any former instruction for fighting out of head, so I could truly understand how my clan went about combat. I theorized that in the end, when I have started to gain a mastery over the gentle fist style that I could start trying to adjust it with different stylistic changes.

(That and I knew it was in bad faith to assume that you know better than your instructor especially from such a young age. I would be the good little girl until I could grasp as much as they would let me.)

In the beginning, learning the taijutsu formations was a bit awkward, the strength and flexibility required to perform them while absorbing contact was unreal. Although part of that might have had a bit to do with how little I weighed hence diminished leverage.

I had first thought the gentle fist would be mostly upper body and why I focused on my upper body so much. Sure I ran yes, but my legs were a bit too underdeveloped to start actually loading up weight to do squats with or the sort.

Even the younger kids knocked me down a few times in the beginning. (Much to Neji's amusement I might add.) After getting my ass knocked down a few times, I began grasping the form and how to move my body between formations with efficiency.

I would watch my sparring opponents ankles and torso to conclude where their weight was distributed and how I could exploit them in their moments of weakness. After the first day of training I was able to destroy the children near my age and then came the fated battle between me and Neji.

Neji had this presence about him that was completely different. Even at this tender age his look would change when he was entering combat mode. Like a switch was flicked and all of a sudden he could unleash this confidence that would make me feel like I couldn't even touch him.

 **"Start!"**

Neji took a step closer with that "winning smile" if his. His footstep light and crisp, then rotating 180 degrees, before taking another step forward. I watched him carefully. Even without the Byakugan my vision was very sharp. Dynamic movements were scanned and able to be analyzed at near superhuman speeds. A detached focus let me see minute movements that may have escaped the average eye.

 _I will never take this vision for granted. I know very well what it's like to traverse life and compete with less detailed and accurate visual information._

I pulled my body as close as I could get to the ground to be able to react to his strikes without being pushed over like several of the others had managed with me.

Neji knew he was superior and went to close the distance in an instant. I bent my back avoiding one of his hands, but then Neji spun on his heel and the back of his fist impacted with my head.

As soon as I felt contact, I moved with the punch, dispersing the impact out over time and distance, making it feel more like a slap. I grabbed his wrist, yanking him closer, but his frame hardly budged. I could faintly tell by my extrasensory perception that he had gathered more chakra in the key areas needed for leverage.

I was not well versed in that technique yet (Channeling Chakra to specific points to the body for augmentation.), as my chakra control was still a bit shaky, and I needed to train my physical body. It was the most lacking so I figured once I had a mastery over it, when I finally began mixing the body and Chakra augmentation together, the fact I had been practicing them separately would mean something like a multiplicative relation to my growth and power.

I was never one for gradual. I know myself enough to say that I'm incredibly greedy with how I want to spend my effort. If i wasn't spending it to how I deem efficient, than why bother when It could be served in much better ways. If I was going to put in the effort, I didn't want any half measures.

I tried to emulate Neji. I decided I couldn't win without attempting it, so I called chakra into the body parts I focused, but it moved shiftily, almost feeling like it oozed. I couldn't get it to the right places in time. Despite that, I was currently able to physically bob and weaved through the flurry of his strikes aimed at me.

I was tremendously outclassed, every second only making it more apparent. _I needed to draw him in and end it with a sneak attack… It would be my only hope to pull out a victory._

He seemed to favor his left side for balance and the right side for strikes. It would be unusual for a kid this young to be equally proficient with both sides of his body.

I waited and moved my left shoulder closer to him, inviting a strike, when I saw it~

~For a split second, before the strike, he was vulnerable enough to a foot sweep. I knew it had to be there before, but it was more pronounced now that he had exhausted a bit of his stamina.

I lunched at him with my palm aiming for his chest. He moved to my left swiping my wrist out of the way. I should have been unbalanced from this state but by now I had seen this move used on me enough to be ready with my answer.

I pushed off the ground in a backflip, pulling my outstretched legs overhead and touched down. Neji didn't want to let me recover my balance and blitzed me.

After touching down, I absorbed all the energy I could, bending low from a wide stance. I pushed the chakra I had been holding still down into my legs while placing a palm on the ground.

I flexed and aimed a scissor kick to his ankle. I saw it approaching him and I waited to see a look of realization on his face. To see that confident persona shred before my eyes.

It did not.

My foot struck his ankle but it did not budge.

Instead his palm grew ever present to my face and I could only blink in wonder.

Time seemed to trickle by in slow motion, but no matter how I pulled at my muscles with my mind they would not budge. I was still in the low position locked on my outstretched legs with nowhere to retreat.

 **Baaaam!**

I don't really remember the rest of the day, It was hazy but I was told I passed out after Neji's strike. I remember knowing that Neji was a genius and that even rock lee had never defeated him in a spar up until at least past the chunin exam from canon, but WOW.

That kid was something. This great hurdle appeared before like a complicated puzzle I had to solve. If I were to establish myself as the prodigy of prodigies, I would have to overtake this king. I will build my throne on top of his. My first achievement - I want to be recognized for was at least being this kids equal in fighting prowess, then eventually surpassing him.

It was unfortunate that I wasn't born a little sooner as I am a little under half of his age.

 _No, no, no. I can't think like that, I have to think positive._

 _It's a blessing I was born younger than him, when I overtake him it will just be that much more impressive._

When I went home and thought about the fight, my hands trembled.

It was terrifying remembering the feeling of dread when there was nothing that I could do but just sit there and take his hits.

-but that's not why my hands were shaking. My hands were shaking in anticipation, the worthy goal I would have to conquer.

* * *

 ****┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(1 month later)**

 **[Mina: 2 Years 1 month - Neji: 4 years 6 months-ish]**

The young Hyuga's birthday was today. The compound was full of life with people moving back and forth. There were festivities planned but the dreaded ceremony was no doubt to ensue.

The birthday party was fun for us side-branch members because we were allowed to play under the Great Gale Gazebo. I don't know what made them name it something so pretentious but it's design was a wind funnel or sorts and the ball we pushed and punched around would be carried away with the massive gusts. The goal of the game was to push the ball into an other players' foot, to which they were considered out. It was a one-for-all game type, and it was surprisingly enjoyable.

Afterwards, we all sat down to eat, but the side branches children were kept away from the main table for the elder side branch members and the main family. I challenged Neji to see who could eat the fastest. The way he challengingly scarfed down his food made me bust out laughing.

He was so competitive, even if it was something outrageously dumb. I loved that about him. It caused being with him to never be that bad. At the very least I was always entertained.

After he beat me at speed eating, I flashed him a grim smile, a smile we both knew well. A sparkle appeared in his eyes, the one when he knew I would issue him a challenge.

* * *

 ****┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

"A race? But we just finished eating, aren't you supposed to wait 30 minutes after eating before strenuous exercise?"

Well… sure, that was the well established belief even in this world. But if we went by those rules he would recover too quickly and would certainly beat me.

"What if you need to move right after eating and it's like.. Life or death or something. This is like training too in a way." I retorted.

He seemed to ponder that before he looked up with a smile. "You are truly insufferable."

"I take that means you accept my challenge?" I spit out with glee.

I didn't win… Sadly even with the handicap of him eating faster, eating more food. It didn't feel great to lose, but I wasn't the only one that lost. He lost his lunch along the way but still trudged on like a little soldier. I laughed so hard that I fell down watching him trying to even kick up another gear having lost some of the ground he would have had if still traveling at the same brisk speed.

I knew I couldn't win, but after I managed to stop laughing I pushed myself hard too. Even if I still lose to Neji, I can still do better than I did last time.

When we finally got back to the compound the ceremony was set to start. They were sorting the youngest of the clan into groups. The groups that were the main family, the groups that were the branch family and already had their seals, the branch family children who didn't have their seals and were training in taijutsu, and the children who had yet to start training.

The Branch family kids who had already undergone the ceremony had pity in their eyes when looking at my group.

Oh no…

I had hoped that I would be young enough to somehow avoid the caged bird curse seal this time around but I had officially started training one month too soon. _**DAMNIT!**_

I don't want to recall the ceremony. I don't want to remember the horror on little lady Hinata's face when watching Neji, myself, and the rest while we were branded like cattle with the insignia of lost freedom. Freewill did not exist while bound to this twisted family. We as people, had more in common with tools and property.

The pain was similar to how I remembered to have my entire body sucked into myself and experience my entire 'old' life in an instant. (I'll admit the pain was less, but it was much more prolonged.)

Certainly the inventor of this jutsu didn't have a single shred of sympathy or surely there was something they could have done to, at the very least, lessen the pain.

Neji's face and demeanor completely changed after that day. Where he would compete with me with anything under the sun with a smile, he now devoted himself fully to the clan with removed emotions... Like he had lost hope of ever having freedom. Like he gave up.

But I would not relent. There was nothing that could make me give up. I understood that there were always options... Or perhaps, I just was just willing to explore those options regardless of the consequences.

You can brand a 2 year old with this accursed mark, but when I'm strong enough I will break this entire family. I'll splinter everything it believes in and rewrite the damn thing. Surely this could not be allowed to continue. Times change, and I came from a time when the belief of free will and freedom was more universal than water.

 _This is certainly slavery, It only LOOKS prettier._

 _Defend the main branch!_

 _Give life and limb for your superiors…_

It's a belief held by both my clan, and the village… A despicable one.

Maybe I couldn't fix everything, but surely I can make a positive change somewhere correct? Even if I'm never strong enough to save the world and go toe to toe with the godlike entities of the Ōtsutsuki clan.

 _Surely change on this small of a scale is possible correct? It's not just some childish dream._

Or maybe that's just the child in me blinding me, but I doubt it.

* * *

 ****┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

I didn't feel like doing anything else today… I just wanted to lay in my bed.

I thought about grabbing a leaf from beneath my mattress to channel chakra through, but I felt more content putting my pillow over my head to drown out the cruel outside world.

I heard the main room's door slide open and felt my mom's chakra enter the house.

The warm feeling that I got whenever I knew she was home didn't wash over me this time. I was far too blinded by pain and frustration to feel anything else.

I felt her pace around the house like something was on her mind, the floorboards creaking slightly underfoot.

I briefly thought about going out there, but her seeing me never seemed to improve her mood, so I favored staying sprawled out upon my silky bed sheets instead. I took a small comfort in running my skin over it to feel the pleasurable sensation even if my head splintered with pain.

 _I wonder if mother regrets being born into this clan? She never seems to be happy here but she can never leave because she had the Byakugan. Even with the seal it wasn't safe for Hyuga to relocate away from the village._

I stared at my palm, which I had pulled from over my face, staring over my already callused hands. The hands that with every right should be dainty and feminine, were instead already becoming worn and rugged. If I were to ever take on a significant other, I wondered how would they would see my hands?

 _Even-more, If I were to have a significant other would I want a boy or a girl?_

The thought was silly, sure, but anything to distract me from the hell that was my home life would be a welcomed reprieve.

My door popped open. I wondered what mother could want, she usually asked me to do things from behind the door if she could. _Probably so she wouldn't have to look at me._

She made a small whimpering noise.

It was at that moment, I knew there was something wrong, sitting up in my bed to look at her.

My mother had tears in her eyes, and in her... in her left hand she clenched at a kunai.

My mother's eyes of pure white looked broken and empty as they leaked profusely.

My heart ran a mile a minute.

My hand clenched at my bedspread.

 _Was she here to kill me?_

 _Was this it? Did she finally decide to take me out of this world like she brought me in?_

She inched closer to me, her eyes shaking and without her Byakugan active.

I scooted backwards and pressed my back against the wall.

I wanted to scream but the noise got lodged in my throat.

My knuckles visibly turned white.

The hair on my neck stood on end.

My mouth became dry and all I could think about was my survival.

She took another step, only mere feet from the edge of my bed she was now leaning over.

 ** _Boo'd Up - Boo'd Up._** (My heart raced in my chest.)

"I'm sorry… That I was such a poor mother…" she said. "-But Youuu won't ha..ave to worry a-bout it anymore… I promise…" She let out in quivered breaths, like her heart was breaking.

 _I was ready, I was ready!_

If she charged I could still surprise her, perhaps she doesn't know how proficient I am yet!

"I- I wanted to be able to love you… but I couldn't"

My eyes burned from keeping them open without blinking, warm tears oozed out from their edges but I refused to close my eyes, not even once.

I kept waiting for her charge.

-but it never came.

She fell to her knees bringing the kunai up and... and... crudely slit her own throat.

"...?"

Horrified, I watched her body fall over in a heap. A crimson pool formed and gathered on the ground growing ever larger.

I watched the light fade from her eyes, as she made gurgling noises, choking for just another breath.

Her snow white byakugan, The ones which lacked any imperfections… the shine had left them.

No light could be seen.

All intelligence gone.

I stood eerily still… My whole body felt tight. Tension in every muscle.

 ** _Boo'd Up - Boo'd Up -_** ** _Boo'd Up._**

I couldn't move.

The pool only grew as it started to stain some of my bed-sheets that had fallen to the floor during my retreat.

 _WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!_

I couldn't close my eyes. I was afraid that I would never forgive myself if I did.

Slowly I crept to the edge of the bed, little by little. I peered over and stared into the lifeless eyes that seemed to peer through the ground, staring at something I just couldn't see~

~Past the entire world into the land of the dead. My mom had taken her own life in front of me.

 _NO!_

 _Wha-_

 _Movement._ _My mom's body moved!?_ Her eyes began to darken and I could see them transition from white to black. Black as midnight, black as her hair.

Her lip quivered ... then nothing.

-And her lip moved again…

 **"Your mother wanted to commit suicide before she ever had you, but I figured that would have been in bad taste, so instead, I waited till today before finally allowing her to have her wish."**

The words were spoken in the voice of my mother… but they were undoubtedly spoken by the damned-able being-X.

"YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!"

"She wanted nothing more from the bottom of her heart to leave, do you not see it as mercy?" she spoke.

"No! NO! **NO! NO! NO!** " I shouted.

 **"Wa-"** she started.

-But i screamed. I screamed and screamed until my throat felt strepped. Blood curdling screams sounded throughout the entirety of the compound. Several people broke into our house; Into my room.

The black eyes that just haunted me, which had appeared in my lifeless mother's head, were now gone, instead being replaced by the again snow white beauty.

The clansmen who broke in found me sobbing uncontrollably. It didn't take long for them to pull me out of the room. I didn't have the power to fight against them even as I tried.

"No! Please don't make me go... **NO!** "

...I couldn't wriggle free and they continued dragging me ever further.

She was gone… She was gone and there was nothing that I could do.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I really want to skip further into the future but there are some key events I still want to touch on briefly. The next chapter will simply be a list of journal entries that mina has made that the audience can read giving them insight on some of the things that happened to her the time I refuse to cover. **(If anyone strongly disagree then send me a review stating why and I'll consider changing my views, but It's still unlikely.)**

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

 _ **SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to "Ashborn2271" who left me a review, It means a lot!**

 _ **-**_ _ **Ashborn2271 -"**_ _ **Would have been more interesting if it was Neji SI with him doing a revolution."**_

 _\- okay ouch, normally you would try telling me things inside the story that I could change to make it better than trying to tell me to write a different story. I like the idea and I'm still thankful for the review, so thank you… HOWEVER, Neji will never be the focal point of the story even if I do intend on adding this to my own head canon later. Im perfectly fine doing interludes to help see the inner workings of different characters which is actually why I numbered the top of each chapter with an "Article #" so interludes and such can still be numbered neatly. Thanks for your suggestion, I hope to see more constructive reviews in the future!_


	5. Interlude

**Article 5 - Interlude - The Tragedy of Yoruichi Hyuga**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **(This chapter will play with what content can be discussed within the content rating of: Teen, If you do not feel that you are mature enough to read content about suicide and rape then please skip past this chapter, thank you!)**_

 _ **-[YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED]-**_

…

* * *

 _ **(This content was fan requested and far be it from me to deny you guys. Love you!)**_

…

In my entire life I have never felt lucky.

I had once found love, but my love had been taken by the battlefield. The face that had once made my heart soar to the heavens was now decaying 6 feet below the ground.

The day of his death had forever been etched into my mind like it was left by a searing hot rod. A sting far worse than the caged bird curse seal that was "bestowed" upon me like it were an honor.

I can still see the two red dots which were on each of the enemies forehead as they savagely murdered the only light which managed to creep into my life. I was held in place by one among their ranks while they stabbed into him over and over. They wouldn't end him, because they could still prolong their suffering.

I think It was probably my fault, the savage beasts took so much enjoyment at reading my expressions as they tortured him before my eyes. I could not look away, even as I shut my eyes my dojutsu kept me watching the entire time.

Whenever they saw me close my eyes, they would pull on my forehead with their grubby fingers until my eyes were held open.

I watched the life drain from my lover.

Afterward it would seem that they were not yet satisfied, they ripped my clothes from me and all had their turn. My cries and screams fell on ears that only served to turn them on more.

Savages… Monsters.

I was passed around like a feast on a dinner plate and there would always be more to go around.

I thought that they would get fed up eventually now that my spirit was completely broken, but they were insatiable. They could never get enough.

A loud boom sounded which called the attention of my captures. A rumble traveled through the ground and they filed out of the tent with bloodlust in their eyes.

I could no longer cry, my tear ducts had dried long ago, and the men shoved my head into the dirt getting into my eyes repeatedly.

My hands were restrained behind my back and I had lost any shred of dignity I had long before they finished.

A clash of metal sounded outside the tent with accompanied screams. I could tell the difference just by sound from the Kaguya clan members and who they were fighting.

Even as they died, their screams always held joy in their brutality. The other screams were that of agony or defiance.

This world was far to cruel.. Too crude.

The luster of it had lost its color. It's appeal.

I was rescued and brought back to Konohagakure.

The nightmares would never leave me, when I closed my eyes I could see my comrades fall before my eyes, to see the love of my life extinguished like a cheap match.

I didn't know how to continue… I wasn't willing to learn.

I would just throw myself into missions and slaughter the villages enemies, that's all that was left that I was certain I could do.

Or so I thought.

I became pregnant. One of those savages swords had pierced my womb and contaminated me.

As soon as I found out I sought out assistance from the medical staff inside the clan to help me abort it. I brought the matter to those I had entrusted as friends, or as close as any friend I had ever had before my love.

The matter had made the way up to the head of the clan, and by his decree I was told to have the child anyways.

My heart shattered.

Fragmented in pieces, I couldn't or wouldn't pick them up.

I was too tired, too lonely.

My light was gone and I was ordered to birth the little abomination which was tied to the savages who had wholesomely ruined my life. Had snuffed out the life of the only person I effectively cared for.

It was an impossible task.

I asked and pleaded to the clan for mercy, to just let me abort the demon inside of me, but they refused to hear reason.

Apparently their bloodline was too valuable to let this opportunity slip away. The greed of the patriarch won over my requests, my needs.

The Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai was too alluring for them to see reason, for them to know that the little savage no matter what their fighting capability would be a monster. A monster in sheep's clothing.

I couldn't accept it, I tried to plead but now angered the patriarch activated my curse seal to inflict pain on me.

"If you won't see reason I'll show you force!" He shouted.

* * *

...

(7 Months later)

...

Time was winding down and there was nothing I could do short of death to prevent this child from being born. I had been swallowing trace amounts of poison since the start of the pregnancy but nothing could stop that atrocious beast from persevering and growing.

I could spear through my belly and kill the child, but going against the clan's wishes was paramount to death.

So I accepted my fate.

I took an amount of poison that should have dropped at least 4 grown men.

I closed my eyes in wait in anticipation of death, but he would not come.

After some hours I couldn't stand it, I took more poison and as I was shoving it down my throat I heard a voice in my head.

"Not yet…"

I fell to the ground and began regurgitating the poison I had shoved into my body.

My eyes tried to produce tears but they could not.

My eyes could not produce tears since the incident.

I looked longingly at the capsules which had made their way back up and now onto the floor with the thought to scoop them back into my mouth.

"Not yet…" the same voice sounded in my head.

…

* * *

I was kept a closer watch over for the time before I was to birth the monstrosity. My will had gone like the wind. I was just a slave to the main family without the freedom to my own body.

I just wanted it all to be over, I no longer cared about just killing the child. I selfishly just wanted escape, to leave, to see the man who was tortured in my dreams whole again. I wanted security… I wanted love.

…

* * *

I birthed the child and apparently there were complications. I part wondered if those complications were due to the poison I had ingested or some other reason.

After some time they gave me word that they believed my child to contain dual kekkei genkai.

The Byakugan from me, and the Shikotsumyaku from one of the savages. They had to seal my childs chakra away to prevent bones from sprouting through the skin and killing it.

A faint smile appeared on my face to the horror of the medical staff. I had the brief thought that even the child doesn't want to live.

After some waiting the staff came to me with the child all wrapped in seals.

It was a pitiful looking thing, for a moment I thought perhaps I could even come to love it… just maybe.

-But my attention was drawn to those two red dots which were already on the child's forehead.

No, I could never love it…

I sent the child away as I couldn't stand to even look at it anymore.

…

* * *

Now that I had birthed the baby I tried to give it up to the family, they had been the ones to want it anyways.

I wanted someone besides myself to take care of the child, but no volunteers stepped forward, so it was left as my responsibility. I wanted to rip my hair out of my head, to scream, but I stayed silent.

…

* * *

I had contemplated 101 ways to commit suicide to end my suffering, but it was like a mysterious force stopped me each and every time before I could go through with it. It appears that it is not even in my control to end my life… what a shame.

I began taking missions whenever I could, the most dangerous suicidal missions I could without looking as if that was what I was doing.

Despite, I was unable to die on the battlefield. Each time i met the face of death I reflexively fought back and managed to win over them. It was if the angel of death was over me to make sure that I couldn't be taken yet.

Each time that death approached I could hear the same similar voice in the back of my head.

"Not yet…"

It drove me to the brink of insanity.

…

* * *

Watching my child grow up very normal didn't help, my heart started feeling weighed down by guilt. I was sure the monster would reveal itself eventually and I wouldn't open my heart to let their bloodline stab me again.

I wouldn't open myself to it, I would close myself off from everything, If I couldn't die maybe it was a curse for deserting this child in my mind before it was even born.

I still felt no love, but I occasionally felt the inclination to show affection.

The way I could tell the child wanted it so badly, and I let that want go unfulfilled.

I would teach this child the way of the world, this cold unfeeling world.

It would be ready for heartache because it will be all that it knows.

I won't lie to it and tell it that everything will be fine.

It will know the way of the world.

…

* * *

I heard the voice which had always told me 'not yet…'

This time, it had a different message for me.

"It's nearly time…"

My heart fluttered for the first time in a long time.

It would seem perhaps god exists after all, that wishes can come true.

I found myself in a cheerful mood for one of the first times since I had lost my light.

I decided with this good news I would do something special for my child, I would make them a very special cake. It was the same cake recipe I used when I baked for my lover, a recipe passed down from my late grandmother. She said that it's most important ingredient was love.

I didn't know if I could manage such a thing, but even if it were missing that ingredient, I'm sure the child would appreciate it anyways, I suppose it is the least I can do.

…

* * *

The child ate it's first bite of the cake and the way it smiled smashed at the fragmented pieces of my cold heart. That it could gain so much enjoyment from something so simple. Where I remember chastising my mother at some points for making me cake for my birthdays the child exuded an air of thankfulness… from the depth of their being.

It was probably because it was still so young. It is not in the nature for the young to be monsters. A lion cub is born cute then transform into a predatory beast. I couldn't allow myself to love the child because I am deeply defective.

I have long since expired.

I am not sure I can even be in the same breath of humanity anymore.

I am so deeply broken.

…

* * *

"It is your time… If you wish to leave say your farewells."

I touched at my eyes as they began to fill with tears. It was a miracle.

My tear ducts had been damaged in the incident, I had not been able to shed even a single tear.

My time is finally here…

I rushed home having already completed my mission. I was brimming with excitement I nearly skipped all the way there.

It must sound ridiculous… but being able to leave this world behind would be the greatest weight lifted off my heart.

I had decided long ago I was better dead, but could not achieve it.

Today was different, where there was no hope, now there is some.

My heart sank…

I would leave behind the child… the same child that refused to finish the cake I baked it instead cutting it ever smaller. The same child that had fought for my attention and affection, the same child I had locked from my heart.

Now that I knew I could leave, my heart felt open, like perhaps I still had something to give before I passed.

I didn't know what I could give the child… I finally arrived at my home and slipped in quickly.

I paced back and forth upon the mahogany floorboards with soft clicks from my shoes.

What would I do, how do I leave? Can I leave before ever seeing the child? Is that thought selfish?

"Time is almost up" I heard in the back of my head.

Tears began streaming from my eyes uncontrollably.

I threw open my daughters door and stared at her.

I had single mindedly only ever thought of escaping, and now that I can I feel regret for not doing more for the kid before I left… I will tell the child the truth.

I stared into the child's eyes, and they were fearful.

Had I been wrong this entire time? Had all along I been the monster?

My body struggled to move forward, but I fought through it.

My feet felt like they were each a thousand pounds. Like each step was a brilliant achievement.

Like the distance between the two was that of an entire lifetime of marathoning.

But with each step I drew nearer.

It occured to me that I didn't even know what I wanted to say.

What would be the last words I say to my little girl?

I guess I can only tell her the truth, prepare her for this cruel world.

"I'm sorry… That I was such a poor mother…" she said. "-But Youuu won't ha..ave to worry a..bout it anymore… I promise…" I let out in quivered breaths.

My chest burned and It was hard to breathe.

I couldn't pull air into my lungs anymore… they didn't work…

What can I say with my final breath?

"I- I wanted to be able to love you… but I couldn't" I managed.

I fell to my knees but couldn't stand the thought of suffocating in front of her… no, that's not honest… I couldn't deal with the thought I might survive.

I fell to my knees from the lack of oxygen and as my vision started to fade I pulled my kunai to my throat and pulled…

…

..

.

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I really want to skip further into the future but there were a few people who asked for the backstory of Mina's mother. I was going to give it a bit later in the story, but here is as fine of time as any. **THE FANS GET WHAT THEY WANT!** The next chapter will simply be a list of journal entries that mina has made that the audience can read giving them insight on some of the things that happened to her during the time I refuse to cover. **(If anyone strongly disagrees then send me a review stating why and I'll consider changing my views, but It's still unlikely.)**

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

 **...**

 _ **SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to "** **Mysterious Goat"** **who left me a review, It means a lot!**

 _ **-**_ _ **Mysterious Goat**_ _ **-**_ _"_ _I originally hated Mina's Mom the way you wrote her, and I doubted there was anything you could do to redeem her in my eyes... I still don't quite feel like she's redeem but you at least made me feel bad for her. I would love if you could include something later that helps us get some insight with what was going on with the mom and why she was doing things._

 _Really enjoying the story a lot! Keep up the good work.."_

 _ **\- Hope that this backstory can help redeem her even a little bit in your eyes, if not then I'm sorry, not everyone can be a good person, some people are scum no matter how much we wish it weren't true. Thanks so much for your review!**_


	6. Chapter 5

**Article 6 - Chapter 5 - Fading Into Shadows**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **-[I'm still uploading the Journal entries, but I figured I could also pander to my fans that want to see how everyone reacts after the incident which is understandable. This one goes out to the fans, far be it from me to deny you guys!]-**_

* * *

…

I was defiant.

I wanted to have some semblance of control, something I have not felt in a long while.

It seems no matter how hard I want something I can never catch up to it.

I always just fall short from the mark… tantalisingly close.

The clansmen wanted to talk to me, but I didn't have anything to say.

I didn't want to talk and at 2 years old I had doubted they would make me.

I had just been given the curse mark and lost my only parent in the same day.

Was I expected to just move on like everything was okay? BECAUSE IT WASN'T.

Being-X is an existence to be feared, whenever I develop attachment, his cold hand can't seem to help itself. It was to swoop in and correct it. Bring me back to my senses. To remind me, that I'm not just some kid.

Well so what! I don't care if the fight is useless, I'll fight because I can, as hard as I can.

I never feel hungry.

I know I need to eat, and I still have to prepare. I knew war would be inescapable and that I would have to be ready. I couldn't choke down all the nutrients I would need to eat normally, so to help I lavished the food with hot sauce.

My mouth didn't feel ready for the burn, but that's what made it so much better. It was pain to help me reaffirm my enemy. That I can't depend on anyone but myself because Being-X gives, and takes away.

I'm honestly surprised that he even provided me with a kekkei genkai as powerful as the byakugan. If he really wanted to punish me he could have still had me born into the hyuga and given me none.

It was as if he was taunting me, like he said I needed his help.

The days melded by into a week. I had been forced to spend time with Ayasha so she could check up on me.

"You look pale, have you been getting enough sleep?" she would ask.

I look pale because the blood runs cold beneath my skin.

I nod my head to her indicating that I had.

-It was a lie. I didn't like to close my eyes. It would callback to when mother opened her throat.

It hardened me. I would say that it made me stronger, but It seems it has worried those around me.

"The bags under your eyes missy tells a different story… are you being honest?"

I gulped… I knew I couldn't fight it… ofcourse she would see it, she wasn't stupid.

I shook my head indicating that I hadn't been truthful.

A relieved expression briefly flashed on her face. Yes, she looks like she believes she won some small victory. The more of those I let her have the less she will bother me.

I don't need… whatever this is, I'm fully capable of providing for myself… although expecting her to believe that probably was a bit over-reaching. Hence why I have to resort to these games to make her feel like she's making progress.

It's cold, It feels like I have to be on guard, It's honestly exhausting. I knew that I would need to wear a mask in this life, but perhaps I expected a lighter one to carry around so early. I thought I could build my tolerance bit by bit, but that damnedable Being-X ruined all that.

He could have had her stab me if he wanted… I likely would have been powerless to resist… He wants me to know that he can get to me anytime.

"... Mina-kun, are you paying attention?"

I look up to Ayasha-san and try to put a brave face on. I smile and nod.

Perhaps my acting would still need improvement… She frowned.

…

* * *

Lately when I'm supposed to be sleeping, I lie in bed with my eyes shut. I can focus on feeling the presence of chakras around me, to be aware. If I was not aware, I was sure I would be ambushed. Something would sneak up on me without my knowing. It was terrifying.

It's one of the only ways I can suppress the nightmarish images from playing through my eyelids.

Sleep is a commodity that is necessary, but I never sleep too hard. Something as light as the wind sweeping through the trees could wake me.

I would lay at attention and feel to see if I could locate any unfamiliar or out of place chakra signatures. There is no rest for the wicked.

…

* * *

Neji doesn't smile as much anymore, but when he sees me he tries to put on a brave face. He thinks he's older and supposed to be dependable. Despite being pompous he's actually a pretty nice kid. I wonder where he gets all his strength. How he keeps it all so neat?

Well I suppose I'm pompus too, but I need to be. I must condition myself to be superior, but I must still always respect my enemy. I know that I am weak and that my enemy is strong. It has power I can't even approach to fathom while I'm a little runt who had barely stopped soiling myself.

Humanity was born weak, so they have forever strived to fight with knowledge. At what point do we gain enough knowledge to take on a deity? The damnedable Being-X must be usurped.

I need some kind of plan, I can't fly blind anymore. I need to see myself work towards something or I will go mad.

Never stop to think about where I've been… I must stare only forward, where I still must journey. What's left for me is only moving forward.

The whole experience had actually given me some much needed perspective. It made it much more obvious what was important to me. The power to survive, and the witt to cheat death.

I will forge my body like iron so it will never waever. I will sharpen my mind so it will have the answers and never hesitate.

I smiled to myself.

It was a miserable smile… I wondered if I could really do it -or If everything that I was reaching for was just out of grasp, that there would always be another mile to the race, that if I ever stopped moving forward I would drown in my own inadequacy, and that I will lose, and "It" will win.

But now is not the time for fear, it's time to prepare.

…

* * *

I was asked to appear in front of the clan, they used a long word that I had never heard in this world before but I assume it meant _"with who would be fostering me."_

These adults, always telling half-truths and beating around the bush.

I was asked to join them, but I knew it wasn't a request, it was expected of me. It's not the side branches place to oppose the main branch.

It seemed me being here was just a formality, as they wouldn't ask for any of my opinions as they talked about who I could be placed with.

When the patriarch asked for volunteers a familiar face appeared and stood at attention.

"Sir, I would be willing to let the child stay in my home and treat her as my own." Ayasha-san said.

It could have certainly been worse… At least I had already established something of a bond with this woman. It would make handling her easier. She would be nice but I have to remain strong. No one is safe, If I allow myself any feelings of fondness they will surely disappear like the wind.

"Does anyone have any reasons to object to this?" the patriarch asked before giving me a look as if to say _'We're not asking for your opinion though.'_

The room fell silent.

Even if I couldn't stand the man, I had to admit he commanded respect. I could learn something by watching him. I never wanted to end up like him, but I had to admit that he wasn't without any good qualities.

"Yes, yes. It seems we have found you a home and someone to take care of you. You should feel blessed that you have such a supportive family. We are a pack and you are one of us, never forget that." He finished.

He waved everyone out of the room having concluded the processions. I was the only kid inside the meeting, but as I turned to leave Ayasha-san approached me.

I wanted to just duck and escape out the door but I knew it would be a headache for me later so I walked up to her appearing as formal as I could to the point I looked uncomfortable.

I would hope that my extra showing here would go a long way to prolong dealing with my problems.

"Th-thanks Ayasha-san for taking me in. I very much appreciate at it and I'm glad someone as nice as you volunteered."

It looked like tears welled up behind her eyes… I couldn't be sure because all evidence vanished after a few moments.

"Of Course goofball. Someone has to make a proper lady out of you."

Well that's a thought… although not one I wanted to deal with anytime soon.

She looked me over then knelt down to my eye level. She wouldn't break the stare she gave me as she kept looking into my eyes. I was worried what she might see.

The eyes are the window to the soul, and I could not afford to show her who I really was.

It would be too costly.

She wrapped me in her arms and pulled me close.

I let out a faint 'Eeep' noise of surprise.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

HOW DARE HER! … HOW COULD SHE! -She made such a big deal about me lying to her, and she thinks she can tell me this?

It was an empty promise, one that would have to be broken. She would either be killed or beat herself up over the tragedy to come.

Tears welled in my eyes.

I cursed my fate being stuck as a girl.

Why was it so hard to have mastery over my emotions. It was like trying to traverse to a destination with no map, no directions, and no clue. It's no wonder women seemed so mysterious in my past life; It's almost as if we are different creatures.

…

* * *

After the meeting I headed to the dojo where we would practice our sparring in small groups before the bigger outdoor spars. The indoor spars were much more individual as people would instruct us even pausing matches to explain things to us.

It made me anxious. I just wanted to hit something and I didn't want to stop.

After practicing for a while, we took a break and me and Neji snuck out to the veranda sitting on a bench.

"Neji, how do you use your byakugan?" I asked breaking the silence.

He looked relieved that I had initiated the conversation. It seemed harder to talk to him lately than it used to be. He was getting more observative everyday and I found myself being able to hide less and less of the animosity I harbored deep inside.

Lately he seems like he's lost in thought a lot. Like he's searching for his own answers but doesn't know which ones to accept.

"You cultivate chakra behind your eyes and release your chakra in a certain flow. You can achieve this flow much easier through the assistance of hand seals, but eventually you can come to force that state in your body without them."

Okay the theory behind it sounds pretty simple, but in practice I had never achieved it even after mimicking the hand seals from the clan scroll.

"I must be missing something… I feel as though I have met those conditions and yet I have not awoken them." I stated plainly.

He asked me to show him, and he activated his own byakugan in order to see how my chakra moved through the body. He was silent as I had began forming the seals I had rehearsed before.

"No, no. Those are very sloppy hand signs, how do you expect to cultivate chakra correctly with such unreformed technique?" he asked seriously.

Yes Neji was a genius, and in another sense he was an idiot. I should punch him, and I probably would have if he hadn't given me such good advice… that, and if I thought my strike might actually land.

He briefly left, running to his home and showed back up with a deck of cards in hand.

He pulled them out and showed me the illustrations of the different hand signs.

"I will drill you in hand signs until you get it right, I will not tolerate anything but an exceptional kohai."

At the very least I could tell he believed in me…

...

* * *

Neji and I began practicing other things outside Taijutsu class related to ninja training. He was single minded in his pursuit to better himself. He was never satisfied and it was actually pretty inspirational.

It also made it easier to slip out of doing childish things and spending time with Neji until the rest of the side branch came to see me as "The Second Little Prodigy"

…

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I really want to skip further into the future but i figured I could at least do this much. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions and i'll consider adding it to future updates or revising it into the story. **THE FANS GET WHAT THEY WANT!** The next chapter will simply be a list of journal entries that Mina has made that the audience can read giving them insight on some of the things that happened to her during the time I refuse to cover.

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

 **...**

 _ **SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to "** **pigs103"and "** **Mysterious Goat"** **who both left me a review, It means a lot!**

 _ **-**_ _ **pigs103**_ _ **-**_ _"_ _This story is great. It's a really interesting OC and you've written them very well. I tend to not like journal entries as a format for writing. I feel they often leave a lot to be desired. It's great to have maybe one entry to learn of the nararrators thoughts but a whole chapter of them often just seem like a rushed passage of time. I want to know everything, not just Mina's perspective. I want to know how Neji reacts to Mina's mother's death. How the clan reacts. How Mina, in time, reacts to their reactions. Idk I just think journal entries limits perspectives and this last chapter ended with an event that can effect a lot of different people and I'd like to see their perspectives as well. Ultimately, the choice is yours. You've done a lovely job with the story so far and I'm sure whatever you choose will be great as well._

 _Really enjoying the story a lot! Keep up the good work.."_

 _ **\- Hope that this and the journal entries which will be uploaded tonight go a good distance to mediate what we both want. Let me know how I did and if you have any suggestions! Thanks again for the review.**_


	7. Journal V1

**Article 7 - Journal Entries - They Asked For A Page From My Book**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **-[I'm anxious to get further into Mina's life, I don't want this story to be one that takes hundreds of thousands of words before she even joins the academy. I don't want to sacrifice the integrity of my characters or story but I'm hoping this will be enough to help you understand what's happened over the time skip.!]-**_

…

June 12th - Age: 2 Years 5 Months

Lady Hinata-hime was kidnappened by enemy shinobi. Everyone began to panic and tensions ran high. I had never seen the compound resemble a hive so much before. They had made us angry and they were planning their retaliation. I was too young to be given any of the facts straight and instead had to enhance my ears with chakra to overhear whispers between members of my house.

The day was cloudy and it painted a grim morale for many of us. Eventually the pursuit team had encountered lady Hinata's kidnappers and eliminated them. Celebrations were in order and the main family sung praises and indulged in liqueur and sake while the side branch continued to stand guard.

War slipped out of the mouths of many in a hushed tone as they seemed like they were preparing for the worst if It came to it.

…

June 19th -

I have been able to use the Byakugan for several months, but tonight as I was meditating I found a tanketsu that was odd. I tried funneling my chakra through it but it seemed to rebound off of it. After realizing it was there I began to fiddle with it trying to discover what exactly I was working with. The reading that I had been doing lately talked about mastery over the chakra tenketsu that our family have and how to activate them using the byakugan.

I prodded at this strange existence until it finally responded to bruteforce. My body became so heavy that the frame of my bed cracked and made a loud noise. Ayasha-san arrived very quickly and despite having her byakugan active she paced around the room looking for an intruder that wasn't there.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Umm… I … broke my bed?" I said questioningly… I didn't know what else to say. I wouldn't be able to hide it from her anyways.

She looked at me with disbelief as her eyes shifted back and forth from me to my snapped bed frame.

"How did you break it? Were you jumping on the bed?" she asked worried.

Uhh… should I tell her it happened training or will that just worry her… hmm…

"I must have sat down on it to hard" I bent the truth to sound innocent.

She gave me a suspicious look like I wasn't telling her the whole truth but didn't push further. She asked if I wanted to stay in her bed for tonight and I declined. I was fearful of attachment, fearful of letting myself hope. They were weapons which would only serve to be used against me. I needed to become hardened.

I felt lonely as I watched her leave my room, for a brief moment I reconsidered.

...but I couldn't afford weakness.

I cuddled with something I knew wouldn't betray me, my pillow.

…

June 21st -

I escaped the compound in the morning so that I could explore this new tanketsu's powers. I forced chakra into it and I felt much heavier again. I stomped my foot and left an imprint in the earth.

" _This is remarkable!"_ I thought to myself. I knew the locations of both of the inner gates which resided in the head, but this was one completely dissociated… At least I thought it was.

After messing around for a few minutes a sharp pain was felt in my hand.

I looked down and saw bone sticking from my skin.

I don't know how it didn't occur to me before. How I didn't have a dad and how I was treated a bit different, a bit more hostile towards by the adults. They must have known about this. It makes sense why they had to seal my chakra, When I was born my own ability caused my bones to protrude my body.

I cultivated focus and spread the sensation over my whole arm. After a moment I went to grab it with my other hand. I could feel a thick hard exoskeleton beneath my thin layer of skin.

I slammed my augmented arm into a tree and it impacted it leaving a significant dent. The pain was minor even though the bark had ripped the skin. I felt my arm and it felt perfectly fine, no significant damage.

… when I noticed something very odd.

My skin was stretching itself out over the wound like it was only natural. It mended the torn skin and returned to normal as if no damage had ever been sustained.

My jaw fell agape before I began exploring the limits of my ability again

...

June 22nd -

Hiashi's life was demanded by the village of Kumogakure for retribution for killing one of their most treasured shinobi. They threatened war if they were refused retribution.

It seemed most of the adults from our clan knew this was their second wind of their pursuit of the byakugan. The higher ups in the clan held secretive meetings pretending everything was going as normal.

Hizashi left the compound restrained by bindings. Neji watched hs his father was taken away into the night without as much as real parting words.

I tried to console Neji but he was convinced that Hizashi would return. "He is even greater than uncle! Uncle fears him. Uncle is jealous. He will be back, you will see."

I had never seen Neji like this, His heart was breaking and I could tell that he didn't believe his own words. He certainly wanted to believe himself but he seemed deflated of the actual hope he would return. He didn't hang around the windows, or talk much about it again, he just looked distraught.

I didn't know how to help, I wasn't sure. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew anything I would say to him would fall on deaf ears. He wasn't willing to listen, he had already made his mind up.

He grew quick to anger and became much more ruthless in training. He was no longer allowed to spar with children his age and had to start sparring with genin from the clan so he wouldn't injure them too badly. He seemed to want to deal with his problems the same way I did.

Violence.

It was a language we both understood, because we both knew pain. Violence accompanies pain hand and hand, without one, there is not the other. The violent and unforgiving world could only fester more pain.

…

July 11th -

I attempted for the first time the tree walking technique. The byakugan allows much more fine tune adjustments to my chakra changes and I find myself becoming much more proficient by the day. Today was finally the day to attempt to reach new heights in my training.

I focused hard on the tanketsu in my feet and cultivating as much chakra to pulsate and cycle through my feet. I cheated a little and adjusted my bone structure to be lighter and more hollow. I figured it would help to start with baby steps until they progressively turn into strides.

I had made it up the tree 2 steps before disjoining from the tree and falling into my back. Balancing releasing the grip with only one foot at a time and establishing grip with the other was difficult. I don't know why I thought this would be easy for me, I'm no genius and it never seems that anything is ever easy for me.

Everything besides my blood I have worked for. Thinking about what I would be with or without it was pointless. I would make them my tools and become a powerful presence. Dual Kekkei Genkai through only inheritance is quite rare I had read. It seemed many of the most famous shinobi managed to do so with only one. The fact I had two only helped me reaffirm that I wouldn't have been given them for no reason. Hell would be at my ankles ready to pull me down and I would need as much fight in me as I can get.

…

July 30th -

I began Incorporating the bone density changes during my use of the gentle fist which augmented how fast I could move my limbs, my balance, and the striking force of my attacks. I had shocked many of the instructors and they decided I could begin learning the Gentle Fist hidden technique. I had acceptable form, now I am to learn the signature Gentle Fist Art and the Gentle Step (which was apparently taught separately.)

It wasn't a hard concept to grasp to be able to move them separately because eventually the longer range techniques such as air and vacuum palm would compliment the style nicely. If I were to have no information from my past life I'm sure I would be much more unruly because I wouldn't have understood the teachings intentions. I had always been one to question in my past life, and it seemed that philosophy clashed with the philosophy of both my clan and village.

-Because of the "Dragon of the Forest" celebration I was forced to attend in the morning my workout needed to be pushed back further in the day. I arrived at the playground and increased my bone density to provide a greater challenge for my muscles. I began making myself so heavy I would need the assistance of chakra to be able to finish the training. It was strangely more mentally taxing than physically especially doing it without the assistance of the byakugan active. I couldn't always have it on, It's better if my training would be harder than any problems I encountered and I was ready, but I had this faint feeling like if I didn't give it my all I would fall short… that it would spell my end.

…

August 14th -

I had finally convinced Ayasha-san to take me to the villages public library. I had been inside multiple times but was not allowed to take any material home. I was without a proper check out card and I needed an adult to sign for me. Ayasha insisted on reading to me when I wanted to spend my free time reading alone. She always pushed at me to let down my defence. The way she flashes me smiles almost makes me want to, but of course that was never really an option.

…

August 15th -

Neji and I had our first spar where he could use the authentic gentle fist on me. It ended in my victory because of the way I used the change in my bone density. I can always see the wheels turning inside his head observing and calculating. He's becoming more and more comfortable with reading how I'm changing my bone structure, surely due to the all seeing nature of the byakugan. After losing he bit his lip until he drew blood, He had never been this sore of loser. It was obvious that he felt me clawing to reach his heels. I was trying to overtake him and he wanted to protect his throne. It ignited more bad blood than I had realized. I saw the first spark of what looked like hatred. I'm not sure if it was at me, his own inadequacy, or just the clan in general. He looked miserable and he wouldn't let me try to help. He was horribly anti-social, even more than myself.

…

October 21st -

Today was the first week I was able to maintain a 50/50 win ratio against Neji in spars. It seems to be inciting him and he is recklessly throwing himself into his training. I wanted to help him but I decided it was for the best. If he felt more inspired to work than he would be only stronger. If he is worth it I can try to skip classes in the academy to make sure we end up in the same year. I wanted to be on a team with him and guy sensei anyways. We could easily place as top student in our respective genders during the year we graduate, so it's not too much to think we could easily manipulate it so that we would be on the same team.

…

February 4th - Age: 3 Years 2 Months.

The chunin exams are being hosted in the village starting sometime this week. I saw a group of sand shinobi and could tell the traditional garbs of the puppet core one of their members wore. The puppets in naruto's world had always interested me even before I ever found myself in this world. The way Sasori of the red sand innovated and fought was a testament of the true strengths of the puppet master jutsu.

I stalked the team for a while from a far with my byakugan. I wanted to see If i could watch him perform it, if I could get just a little bit of an idea that I could build off of.

Their were guidebooks in the public library for building puppets, but not for learning the puppet master jutsu.

The family surely looks down on this technique and would likely never allow me to pursue it for my own. But I was greedy, where some saw waste, I saw tremendous opportunity.

I guess I wasn't as sneaky as I thought I was, because I was snuck up on and restrained.

I was brought to the group when I noticed that the Jounin sensei had disappeared, and the person behind me morphed back into the man who had disappeared from my sight.

The chakra pathways looked identical… When did he make the clone? So this was the shadow clone… definitely a tricky jutsu.

"Why were you spying on us, were you sent here by your clan?" The man asked.

"I… I wanted to learn the puppet master jutsu. I am envious the hidden leaf does not have a puppet core and I wish to learn!" I shouted.

The look of intimidation they were giving me was toned back a few levels, but only by a few. They still seemed weary of me.

"Go away squirt, these puppets aren't meant to be handled by kids. Maybe when your about this tall we can talk about it." the boy said as he held up a hand to his chest.

"I'm completely serious, What can I do to convince you to teach me?" I spit out.

His eyes narrowed and looked from side to side as if to make sure that no one else was around.

he gave me a smile and ushered me to come closer with his finger. I leaned in close and he put a hand over his mouth to either obscure the vision of his mouth or funnel the sound directionally to make sure it didn't carry… maybe both.

My heart danced as one of my key aspirations were about to be in my grasp.

"I AIN'T TEACHING NO SNOT NOSE BRAT MY SECRETS!" he shouted.

Ouch, he had shouted so loud my ear rung. I covered it with my hand and gave him a glare.

He had a cocky smirk on his face and looked satisfied with himself.

"I will prove that I am worth it." I announced.

His eyebrow went up at that… He only had one eyebrow, no wonder he was so mean, he probably gets picked on a lot.

"Kid, ain't nothing gunna… You can already use the tree walking technique?!" he gasped.

I was intent on showing him I was serious. Of course it would be impossible for him to teach me a jutsu that required precise chakra control if I didn't have it. What other 3 year olds can display the control I have been able to achieve. It's been hard work and training for years… So much commitment just to get to this point. I wouldn't let this opportunity slip through my fingers because I look young.

"-and I have already unlocked the byakugan. If i'm correct, it should be possible for me to use chakra thread from any tenketsu from my body. I want to be a mighty and legendary puppet master, I will do anything for you to train me senpai!"

I could hardly believe the words coming out of my mouth, they sounded feasible, and it landed some credibility for why a hyuga would want to learn the puppet master jutsu. I just need to convince him to teach me.

"You know what squirt… I kind of like you. I'll train you under one condition." He said.

My determination had worked! If I can do it I will surely meet his condition.

"What is your condition?!" I asked excitedly.

"You will follow me until the exams start and carry my gear. It's the only way I'll agree to train you."

Hmm… If I'm seen walking behind foreign ninja and carrying their gear someone will go snooping… It will probably be embarrassing for the clan if they catch wind of it… and there was a chance that I would be punished.

But whatever, Carpe Diem, seize the day. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than my clans blessing, they would never accept.

"I accept your terms."

So for the rest of the two days that I was allowed outside the compound I carried his gear. It made it easier by reinforcing my bone structure.

After shadowing him and being seen by many he later taught me the basics behind the puppet master jutsu. How to create the chakra threads from my fingertips and adjust the length. He then explained the concept behind moving the puppet with the strings and how I need to think elasticity or the threads would break and I'd lose the connection. Conceptually it made sense, but putting it into practice was difficult. I saw results, but being able to do anything practical with my chakra threads I could create was impossible. It would take much training to be able to have anything of value added for combat utilization.

-Later that night, I was brought before Hiashi and questioned what I was doing shadowing foreign ninja. I lied and told them that the boy approached me and offered to teach me the puppet master jutsu If I carried his gear. I had told them I accepted his proposal because I thought that perhaps I could funnel the gentle fist chakra into the threads and attack tenketsu at a range.

Hiashi scoffed and belittled me saying that the Gentle Fist was never intended to do anything like that. It was not how our ancestors created it and that I was spitting on generations of refining our families art. I was bent over and hit with a hickory switch twenty times to learn my lesson. I Had made a thin bone exoskeleton under the skin in my butt to alleviate the pain but I was saw through.

Without even needing his byakugan he had known something was off. He activated my curse mark and a searing pain erupted from my forehead. "Have you learned to respect and obey your elders!? There are no shortcuts. Our technique is an ART! I WONT HAVE SOME HALF-BLOOD TAINT OUR SACRED FAMILY PRACTICE!" he bellowed.

I had not learned my lesson. I made it appear like I did, but I had not.

My acting skills were coming along well now, I'm getting more comfortable with my mask everyday. Almost like I am the mask, that we had been inseparable all this time, that we were one.

…

(Roughly a month later…)

I managed to create chakra threads which were flexible and strong enough to pull grass by the roots. This is the first instance I felt anything akin to true progress. The gentle fist chakra seemed too rigid for outrought force through the thread. It was like trying to drink something thick with a straw that was too thin. I found progress when I realized that I could manipulate the gentle fist chakra to be less viscous. I imagined transforming the form to water and letting it flow into the string naturally. It was a small victory but it was still far from practical usage. If Hiashi knew what I was doing im sure he would be relentless on my rear end.

…

I don't remember when I discovered it, but be relocating my spine or extracting it, I was able to bypass the blind spot of the byakugan. The inherent weakness of the eyes were offset by my other kekkei genkai! This is a truly awesome discovery.

…

Age: 3 Years 7 Months -

Began training with blunted shuriken and Kunai both in target practice, but also setting up traps which would launch them at me during my obstacle courses and I would need to block them with my Bone Kekkei.

…

Age: 3 Years 9 Months -

I was caught training by Anko while she was still a chunin and she seemed heavily interested by my idea's to train, so she asked to participate. We both ran ideas off each other to improve each of our training regimens and I could tell that I heavily impressed her especially because of my age.

...

Age: 3 Years 10 Months -

Anko began tutoring me in several things which helped me correct out my form for throwing projectiles, and also began sparring with me with Taijutsu alone. I could hardly keep up. I kept being ran into corners because of her unusual style of Taijutsu and speed. Her technique reminded me faintly of the Shaolin style of my old life.

I watched her movements like a hawk would watch his prey. I wanted to soak up her techniques and reverse engineer the Shaolin fighting style of my memories to have a unique 2nd style of Taijutsu I can switch between If i ever see the need.

My bone Exoskeleton that I had been mastering was working splendidly, but the fact she knew that I was more durable caused her to really give it to me. She was a master at exploiting my openings and making me more aware of what I was doing wrong. I would come get punished by her in the mornings when she didn't have missions, then go home to get punished by the Genine and Chunins back home. Hiashi seemed to be ecstatic with my progress and had personally saw fit to take a role in training me. I would train with him, Neji, and lady Hinata. He would drill us tirelessly. He seemed to be the hardest on me likely because he saw great potential in the dual kekkei genkai.

I believe this fact angered Neji to no end as I had finally earned my title "Prodigy of Prodigies." I was being recognized for my prowess and surpassed Neji in fighting prowess thanks to the fact I can channel the gentle fist through hollow bone tubes. I could extend bone tubing from my body and strike several points at once heavily disrupting my opponents chakra so I can go in for a winning strike.

…

 **End of Diary entries…**

...

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I really want to skip further into the future but i figured I could at least do this much. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions and i'll consider adding it to future updates or revising it into the story. **THE FANS GET WHAT THEY WANT!** The next chapter will simply be a list of journal entries that mina has made that the audience can read giving them insight on some of the things that happened to her during the time I refuse to cover.

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**


	8. Chapter 6

**Article 8 - Chapter 6 - Sociopathic Tendencies**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

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...

 **(6 Months after I was officially named** _ **"Prodigy of Prodigies."**_ **\- Age: 4 Years, 4 Months. )**

Things have finally started turning around for me. I was worried that my training wouldn't improve me fast enough but It would seem that my game plan and approach was brilliant.

In my past life, I had known myself to be intelligent, but never had I considered that I could have actually fallen under the category of genius. It wasn't something that concerned me, I just wanted to learn and better myself. You are only allocated so much time in life, correct? Why spend your it complaining instead of just working to improve your situation?

I never liked it when I felt like something was out of my control.

But in this world, I hold vast quantities of knowledge above these dogs. They chase their own tails and exhaust themselves without ever thinking to progress. The methods used to teach and tutor seem to be more aimed at gaining respect for the power you acquire more than actually learning how to cultivate that power.

Clans are more apt to bestow power to their youth to fast-track them, but even then they drill us with vague instruction and let us seek for answers of our own, then chastise us for arriving at those answers.

Hiashi-sama had been looking at me with greed in his eyes as of late. He likely sees me as an ultimate weapon he can sharpen for the clan. I would let him sharpen my blade until it was sharp enough that I could cut myself loose.

Neji has been refusing to spar with me for the past 3 months. We have grown apart ever since he felt that I would overtake him. I wanted him to revert back into the boy that would accept my races and drill me with instruction, but he was now too consumed in his own pursuit for power.

I doubted things could go back to the way they were.

"There has been an official request for a spar with you in front of our clan. Neji-kun wishes to reclaim his pride and I believe the spectacle will be a good showing of power. I instead offered to stage a public exhibition. When the other clans see's the talent in this younger generation it will lead to favor in political proceedings, not to mention bring us much honor." Hiashi-sama spoke to me while seated.

His eyes peered into mine and he smiled.

This is exactly what I wanted! My legacy will start here and I will be able to fast-track my route to becoming a ninja before the catastrophes from canon unfold. I'm sure that afterwards I could gain a sensei to personally train me once I prove myself worthy.

The only downside to this plan is that if I beat Neji-kun too badly it may break his spirit.I didn't want that, and even more I wanted him as my ally. Neji would be a great assistance to my continued survival especially if he managed to become even more powerful than he had become in canon.

I nodded my head in acceptance and let my lip curl into a mischievous grin. Hiashi also seemed excited as his eyes glistened with pride and greed. Surely he couldn't wait for me to raise the standing of the clan and set a new precedence for the youth of our clan and village.

I've learned to use my bones to restrain and confine my opponent. The genius of Neji Hyuga had not been able to negate the advantages Shikotsumyaku granted me over him in close range. My attack power and utility it gave to me paired with the Byakugan and Gentle Fist that were nearly on par with him didn't give him many options to claim a decisive victory.

I wonder what he has managed to learn or practice on since the 3 months he's been training…

I can't stay focused on Hiashi-sama and my conversation, but like normal he was the one doing most of the talking. I explored the idea that I didn't have fully worked out in my head while nodding and hardly half-listening.

It was like my life was actually starting right now, that I finally have enough things lining up that my plans are getting closer… YES!

Hiashi-sama finally let me leave and I made my way to the kitchen. Itomi was one of the chef's that was on duty per usual in the evenings. He would make me custom dishes in exchange for telling him stories about my day.

He had been a civilian who tried to become a shinobi, but after failing the graduation exam several times he took on culinary arts to provide for himself and his family. He always listened to my training and spar stories with special attention as he likely enjoyed them the most.

He was whipping up an egg white omelette filled with shrimp and chicken over rice, broccoli and soy sauce. I was becoming less picky over time thanks in part because of my obsession with spicy foods. I partially believed my taste buds were deteriorating but that wouldn't be all bad, with a less refined palate I could stomach my food easier If it were something I didn't enjoy as much.

The life of a shinobi is tough and I had to start acclimating myself to it as soon as possible.

I remembered to thank Itomi before taking my plate outside and sitting on the dock of our pond.

The sun had not yet fully set, but the moon was already high and visible in the sky.

The moon's reflection beamed off the ponds surface melding with the red colors of the sunset. The moon looked like it was stained by blood and I felt entranced.

I felt a familiar chakra approaching me and I didn't even need to look behind me to acknowledge who it was.

"Hey Neji-kun, do you think you can beat me now?" I asked curiously.

"Neji-senpai." He corrected in a rough arrogant tone.

I didn't even bother to look at him, He had chose to oppose me and I would not show mercy, It's what I'm sure he would want.

"What brings you here?" I asked picking up a stick and began poking around at the sand.

"You will not be victorious. I have devised a way to fight you. You will remember your place Kohai!"

He was always so serious. He couldn't stand that I didn't call him Neji-senpai anymore after I surpassed him. Why is it so difficult that he can't see ourselves at least as equals now… Everyone else seems to recognize that I'm better even, what more does he have to teach me?

I looked at him and stuck my tongue out.

He clenched his fist while gritting his teeth. It looked like he wanted to say something else but he left without saying it.

...That will be fine. I need to focus on my progress first and foremost anyways.

I finished my dinner and sat in meditation on the dock until the frogs began croaking.

These days I like to stay out of my home as much as possible. Ayasha-san makes it difficult for me to leave without excuses saying she wants to spend time bonding with me. I'm sure a younger version of myself would have been thrilled at the offer, but I had killed that weakness in myself with practice.

A warrior needied to be capable of distancing themselves from their emotions to do their job. I needed to hollow myself so that nothing weighed me down when I was presented the opportunity to slay the demon Being-X.

My cause was a holy crusade, so I had to use whatever the means.

I will survive without the pity or blessings of god. I'm fully capable of being able to carve out my own path without resorting to groveling at the mercy of some sadistic being with a "God" complex.

I decided that it was getting late so I would return home. These days I often sneak in through my window to avoid needing to travel through my home. It also helped keep confrontations with Ayasha-san to a minimum. If I gave her less opportunities to complain, then I would get complained to less often. It was only sensible.

I laid on my bed and reached for my pack of marbles, opening it and grabbing two out.

I set them on my palm and began pushing them over my skin using chakra emitted from various tenketsu. This was simple compared to the control exercises I implemented during my physical training now. I would run my self-manufactured obstacle course with 3 leaves being held on each finger. I would use the gentle fist to deflect kunai launching traps while still maintaining the leafs on my fingers.

Apparently this training method was similar to that of the legendary 4th hokage when he was still at the academy.

I couldn't help but be satisfied with all the progress I've made so far. By comparing myself to legendary ninja of the past I can evaluate where my strengths and weaknesses lie. I want to enhance my strengths while being able to fix or mask my weaknesses to exude the confidence required to truly be an elite. I don't care to be an elite in name persay... I want the skills and nothing more, anyway to get me there is acceptable.

Still… My heart feels squeamish and turbulent lately. I wonder If I can really follow through with my plan.

Trying to rationalize it is simple. If someone was going to die, and they could be of help to you, shouldn't you exploit them before they died?

Ofcourse! Their sacrifice will be more noble and significant if they can become of something bigger… To be able to contribute before their effort and gifts perish alongside them. To become immortalized in legends, even if they would be my legends. It only made sense…

So why does it feel like my heart protests… Can my heart not reason? Does logic mean nothing or perhaps am I overlooking something that would make my logic faulty…

I racked my brain but I couldn't come to an answer.

If dead men are certain dead men, then surely using that to my advantage doesn't make me a monster… only logically opportunistic.

Correct?

The question burned inside my head.

After drawing up my plan to gain power, It was becoming necessary to have these morality debates with myself. Immoral actions done with good intentions can usually either be seen as heroic or evil depending on where your reference point is.

Ultimately I would need to make a more concrete decision or I would waste all of the time I have in hesitation rather than action.

The strong plot action, the weak hesitate and are overtaken. Did I even have a choice?

…

* * *

A week came and passed wholefully uneventful. I remained diligent in my training and allowed myself the delicacy of Fiction reading. Normally there is entirely too much that either needs to be done or is on my mind to be able to indulge myself.

I can feel my sanity slowly slipping away and have made more of an effort recently to force myself to do things I enjoy rather than what I need or want. I'm afraid of the possibility of losing my mind and never finding it again. My sleep deprivation has finally began to subside and I found myself in a more enjoyable and relaxed state since indulging myself.

Today was the day of Neji-kun and my fated match in front of the public. I'm expected to show the might of the Hyuga to all without fail. Hiashi-sama would not tolerate a soft display when he decided to allocate a good amount of his resources for this moment in anticipation.

Deep down somewhere inside me, I didn't want to beat Neji, but losing wouldn't be an option.

With a lack of options I can only go in and respect my opponent as best as I can before I monopolize the victory.

I walked the streets painted in the dawns orange glow and took notice of all the fliers that were posted throughout the village. They were promotions for the match, and had Neji and my own pictures respectively on them. They were well taken photos which emphasized our childish features likely meant to emphasize the Prodigal nature of the match. The local gambling house was taking bets for the fight and I could see the odd's and projected payouts posted.

They had me as the favorite as It was known that I was a dual Kekkei Genkai owner. My odds to win were set at 68% to Neji's 29% and the rest was bet on a draw. I'm sure he had either already or would see the projected probability of the fight. It likely wouldn't serve to soothe Neji's ego.

A fire burned inside of me that longed for the combat, for the showmanship of the event. Something about it was intoxicating… addictive.

I was hoping I wasn't becoming a battle maniac, but at the very least I'm grounded in logic. My need to rationalize and strategize were my finest tools in my arsonal. Even If I had been born without any Kekkei Genkai I'm sure I would have still been among the most elite.

The work ethic instilled in these children was too lax, did they not realize that their time would be called on and only their skills could deter them from being returned to nature as dust? Perhaps I could create my own group of shinobi and inspire them to reach for greater heights. It would make sense to involve the young team 7 since they would eventually be expected to end the 4th great shinibi war. Most of the power they gained was right before the fights and each time they barely managed to get by. If they are started sooner they will have a greater chance of surviving any unforeseen events or changes in the timeline.

I had already seen things that disturbed me about this world and how reality was drifting away from the story I remembered. Several of the changes were from me, but it was unlikely I was the cause for all of them.

A butterfly effect was either rippling and disturbing the path of the future, or this universe isn't identical to the one I remembered. It was so close to it so it was difficult to identify which scenario I found myself in.

As I walked through the streets in thought, a round of applause erupted and I noticed some people and leaf shinobi cheering for me.

They had faces of excitement and pride, Like I was a treasure of the village… pshht, With this seal I'm more like to be their guard dog than any type of treasure, did they not know that or were they deluding themselves?

I arrived at the back entrance of the area for contestants and a wave of spectators were already camped out in wait to greet the challengers. A sea of deafening shouts and stomps were projected into the air. The hype behind this match is certainly living up to Hiashi-sama's expectations… It likely even surpassed them. How was it possible that all of these people were so excited to see two children duke it out in a battle.

I waved to the adoring crowd lifting my index finger into the air… I'm not sure why but something cheesy inside myself felt like striking a pose. The audience ate it up as they only cheered louder.

I ducked into the doors of the arena's back entrance and navigated through the corridors to arrive at the warm up area. I needed to get myself into deep focus and push everything out of mind.

I needed to be confident. I needed to be clutch. So much is riding on this challenge and I could not afford to squander it. This is the cultivation of all my effort and planning sofar and would help cement my legacy. People would tell stories of the 4 year old favorite who dominated her rival prodigy more than 2 years her senior.

It would start by word of mouth and become a lavish story handed down through generations.

I had already written the future in my head. I had already visualized the possibilities and outcomes of the fight. I had already built and trained my body and mind to be an effective weapon. All that was left was to go out and claim it for myself. To win and to keep on winning in this world of violence.

My hands began trembling and I could not steady them. My skin felt cold and clammy. I was sweating more than I should be for just warm ups. Cold chills were being sent up and down my body.

' _What is this?'_ I asked myself.

Goosebumps spread out over my body.

My throat was getting dry, I need to get some water…

I stumbled over to the water fountain with wobbly legs. I drank and drank but didn't feel any different. I splashed water in my face and could see my reflection that stared back at me from the metal plating on the water fountain.

"I need to win…" I told myself.

I looked at my face expecting to see a more confident stare than before, but I still looked helpless.

"I WILL WIN!" I shouted as if to convince myself.

"I HAVE TO WIN AND KEEP ON WINNING!" I yelled as tears began forming in my eyes.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! Confidence!" I shouted as I slapped my face about.

"I killed you weakness, why have you shown yourself?!" I asked internally.

… Silence.

"You will be the best! You have to be!~" I said staring into my reflection.

The figured that stared back looked more ready, more determined. Anxious even.

My hands began to steady.

Color returned to my face.

The biggest smile I could plaster on my face I did… It looked sadistic and violent. I had induced the combat mode I had trained for.

The state that let me fight without reservation, without hesitation.

A warm sensation spread through me which almost made me think the entire breakdown I almost suffered was just a dream. I had won over myself and now I would Win over Neji-kun.

"CONTESTANTS ARE PREPARING TO ENTER THE ARENA! THE FIGHT WILL COMMENCE IN 15 MINUTES IF SPECTATORS WOULD TAKE THEIR SEATS!" the announces voice boomed through the sound system of the arena.

It was time. I left all doubt behind and I was ready.

After 15 minutes I entered the arena...

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I threw this chapter together for you guys to hype up the tremendous rivalry between Mina and Neji. Neji, the true genius Vs. Mina the cheater. Yes, a bright mind not without talent, but mainly just a opportunistic hard worker. Who will prevail in a battle of wills? Find out next chapter!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**


	9. Chapter 7

**Article 9 - Chapter 7 - The Arena's Champion**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **\- I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for this chapter, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :) -**

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...

Cheers engrossed the entire arena after both Neji and I began walking out. The shouts made it difficult to even think while being bombarded by the constant roar.

People were holding up signs for both of us, but I could tell that I had the most supporters in the arena and I knew Neji could tell too. Our eyes were stuck in a deadlock which only helped to build the tension and anticipation for the match.

A feeling of contentment and joy rose over me flooding my body with endorphins. It felt incredible.

"Contestants take your places!" the sound system boomed.

The arena began dying down. People began leaning forward in their seats to enjoy the spectacle.

I walked over to the blue marker on the ground and Neji stood on the red. He flashed that confident smile of his while I showed him my own. After all, It wouldn't due if I couldn't at least exude the same confidence he had.

"In the red corner, the challenger Neji Hyuga, 6 years and 9 months old has his sights on an upset. I'm told he underwent intense training specifically for this match, let's all hope he has a good showing!"

A round of applause rang out. Neji still had a fair amount of supporters or perhaps it was the underdog mentality. Because they had him pegged to lose they just wanted to see him break expectations.

Neji's face grimaced at that but melded back into a neutral expression with his eyes never looking away from me.

"And in the blue corner, Mina Hyuga of only 4 years and 4 months old, the pride of her clan, will fight to protect her title 'Prodigy of Prodigies.' She is the holder of two Kekkei Genkai, the only in our village! Let's all send out a round of applause for our champion!"

I was surprised to hear a greater roar from the crowd which drowned everything else out. People were giving me standing ovations which confused me as to why I deserved this preferential treatment.

"Alright! The rules are simple, blunted weaponry, fatal strikes are forbidden, and will be decided by forfeit or knock out. If the match isn't concluded in 10 minutes our judges will determine the results! Since we got that out of the way, Let's get ready to start everyone! The countdown is about to begin! 10! 9! 8-"

Neji had taken his stance first, a strong neutral stance which could either defend or attack. The usual stance he would take during our spars.

'I hope you have something new for me Neji-kun' I said in my head.

"5! 4! 3!"

I squatted lower to the ground to assume my aggressive charge stance. I could feel a smile creep onto my face but I didn't even want to hide it. My whole body felt energized like it was raring to be put to use. "Byakugan!"

"1! START!"

The chakra I had cultivated near my heels was pushed into the ground and I jolted forwards. Neji had taken a step backwards as he took out kunai from behind him, likely in his pouch.

He launched them at the direction I was traveling toward and I shot them out of the air with my bone bullets. After seeing this he aimed the rest of his kunai into the ground and I noticed that they were all strung with wire strings.

"Hm… that's new." I thought.

I stopped my advance temporarily as I eyed the terrain. I started scooting sideways to circle him. I likely still had superior close range capabilities, so I would abuse that.

As I was feeling him out he continued to throw kunai into the ground strung with wire strings.

It looked like he was trying to create chokepoints I couldn't easily run over, but the same lack of mobility that hindered me would hinder himself.

I started prodding him from a distance with my kunai to limit the amount of traps he could set before I could blitz him.

I saw his hand reach behind him again and I saw my opportunity. I extended a bone through my hand and lengthened it like a pole to extend my swing.

Neji caught on instantly and ducked under the attack before striking it with the palm of his off hand. A shockwave was sent through it and pushed my arm into the air before I retracted the bone.

He leapt off the ground flinging himself into the air and looping his wire strings around my wrist.

I felt a pang of danger resound through my being before cutting the wire by morphing the structure of my bone to more serrated and jagged edges.

The wire snapped.

AIR PALM!

"WHAT?" I blurted in disbelief.

A thick slab of chakra was approaching me quickly.

I didn't have time to dodge, so I reinforced my palms with gentle fist enhanced chakra and slapped at the energy blast hoping to knock it off course.

I caught the edge with my palm and shoved it off course.

YES!

Movement… Neji was closing the distance between us… why? With the air palm he has superior mid ranged tools, why wouldn't he exploit that? Does it burn chakra too fast?

My mind was moving a mile a minute.

I should still be superior short range, Ill lock down his arms with mine and wrap him with my spine for my win condition. Simple enough If i can get him to overextend both hands, I'll let him get into a position to get near my chest.

My smile widened.

Neji was on me in an instant. He jabbed out his palm a few times but they missed and I could tell he wasn't activating the air palm again because the chakra hadn't formed in his hand the way it had before. The attack was too telegraphed to work on a byakugan user with similar skill after i've seen it once.

Then I saw it, the way he pushed his chakra into both arms I could tell it would be a reinforced strike.

I leaned forward anticipating the strike.

Instead as his hands got closer they joined into a hand seal?!

Dog, Boar, Ram. Transform!

Neji became taller, and instead of 2 arms, he now had 8. Even as his arms approached me I could see the arms all contained tenketsu one the hands and could see the chakra swirling between them. It was a majestic sight that made me appreciate jutsu even as simple as this deserved respect.

Fingers made contact with my body all over as tanketsu's were ruptured simultaneously. I threw myself backwards into a handstand while I drew my spine from my back. I grabbed ahold and unleashed a whip slash incase he continued to advance.

He stopped and gave me a cheeky grin.

Chakra was sucked into the palms of all 8 hands as they faced me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

8 simultaneous air palms approached me. They were layered so they would still cover distance but I would be hit with no less than 2. I poured chakra into the spine I still held and slashed one of the air palms splitting it in two and missing.

That didn't stop the rest and I crouched under the impact only getting caught by 1.

The damage I sustained was significant. It was hard to channel chakra through my body, through the maze of working and unusable tenketsu. It burned and the pulse that hit my body seemed to have shocked my system a bit.

I was not in a good position in this fight, I had underestimated my opponent. I hadn't expected him having the air palm technique, and he caught me by surprise with his 8 arms transformation.

Neji was a brilliant fighter which just made me respect him even more. I had pushed him to this. He made all of these techniques just to counter me, I should feel honored!

But the frustration of losing was clouding over that quite a bit.

He moved closer and I lashed out with my whip and I wrapped it around Neji's ankle. I tugged and released bone fragments into him latching on so that I could rob him of his mobility and yank him off balance if he chose to start trying the air palm technique.

I started reeling him in like he was a prized fish. But he crushed the bone with an overhead smash with several of the arms. They looked hardened and flush with chakra.

Yes this is it!

I grinned.

I threw kunai into the air so they would rain down upon him like hail.

It was all just a distraction.

I would be the first person to beat Neji with the old 'under the ground trick.'

I burrowed a bone tunneling underground and spreading out towards Neji while reaching for more kunai.

He was too preoccupied with defending himself from the kunai rainstorm that I had stacked with another layer of straight thrown kunai. Both waves converged and Neji fought off the storm of kunai brilliantly.

I pushed my bones up and wrapped my spine around him as it snaked up his body.

By the time I can get the spine to the throat he will have lost.

His arms grabbed for my spine which slithered over him like snakes as they were swatted from reaching too high.

He had enough of them and the root in hand to yank them affixing me to the ground.

I saw energy build up in two hands overhead

I would need to dislocate the bone from me or go for the neck. A certain dodge or a draw at worse?

The shouts stopped.

Neji stopped.

The blasts had just been released from his palms and they froze mid air.

My bones were at the top of his chest and I couldn't raise them anymore.

Neji's mouth twitched.

"How are you enjoying your reincarnation?"

It was Neji's voice, but it felt so unnatural.

I could see that everyone in the arena were frozen in place. They were like statues.

"BEING-X?! What an unpleasant reunion!"

I glared daggers at the form of Neji but the idea of Being-X.

"It would seem you still hold no faith." he said.

"I'm not so weak I would need to cling to the metaphysical!'"

"I was going to keep my interference to a minimum, but It appears I will need to discipline an unruly lamb..." He said.

"DAMN YOU BEING-X! I will not submit. I will not relent."

A dark sadistic smile spread across Neji's face, his eyes are now painted black.

Movement. I directed my attention to a figure that leapt from the stands. It's eyes were also black as midnight and he approached me.

"What is this Being-X?"

They both continued with their creepy smile as the one still was approaching me.

Shivers were being sent up my spine. "Danger! Danger!" my mind kept telling me.

It stopped in front of me, the fully black eyes were unnerving from inches away.

"Is this fight important to you?" It asked in a mocking voice.

The figure walked forward until stopping at the blasts Neji had discharged.

It used its fingertips to move the blast around until dragging them both closer to me. It kept moving closer and closer until the blasts were straight in front of me.

"YOU'RE JOKING? THIS IS RIDICULOUS?! YOU CAN'T MEAN TO START TIME BACK UP WHILE THESE BLASTS ARE BUT AND INCH FROM MY FACE! I WON'T BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING LET ALONE BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

"Unruly lambs must be shown their follies."

"THIS IS SHIT! FUCK YOU!"

I watched it practically dance back to the seat back in the stands. It looked so damn happy with itself. I would break it, that damnedable Being-X. I would cut it into pieces and feed it to the most devout believers of his faith. I would slay the god and have them eat it in a artistic recreation of communion! It would be glorious…

I tried to distract myself with my delusions of grandeur, but It wasn't for long.

Everything started moving.

My body was pelted with so much energy that I couldn't keep my eyes open.

It hurt everywhere.

I hadn't been able to brace for the strike in the slightest, If i knew when time would have started perhaps I could have in the least released chakra from all my tenketsu at once to soften the blow, but no.

I opened my eyes much to my shock.

I was in the hospital.

A blank spot in my memory between when I got hit and here.

I had thought after getting hit I had just gotten knocked over and closed my eyes, but now after opening them it tells a different story.

I must have passed out.

I noticed Neji sitting in a chair next to me, he saw that I woke up and got up and left the room with a smile.

That smug bastard doesn't have a clue that I was cheated out of my win. It wasn't fair! NOOOOOO!

I found myself screaming inside my head to vent my frustration. I was imploding. How can I compete with such a unfair God? Whenever he wants to win he just freezes time and exploits my helplessness?!

The door opened and I looked up to see Hiashi. I didn't even want to look him in the eyes, I knew the disappointment he must feel after losing in such a way.

"Im sorry Hiashi-sama… I was too careless."

A fire burned in me, an inferno. I wanted to burn the whole world to the ground just to spite Being-X. It would never be enough, I would teach him to fear me.

"It was indeed a lackadaisical showing from you. That you could not dodge the blow or restrain him was pitiful, but besides that It was a good display and no doubt will keep the village talking… I am told you have many fans that want to see you get better, so stay and rest for a while before coming back to the compound." He said before leaving the room.

It was now just me and Neji.

"I too am surprised that you were cornered so easily." Neji said with a nod.

"I guess some things just aren't meant to be…" I whispered while biting my lip.

"Indeed. It would appear I have won the bet." He said with a big grin.

I felt miserable. I lost like that and now I would have to change his honorific. DAMNIT!

I thought about saying screw it, to pretend like I forgot all about the stake and faint memory loss… but unlike 'Being-X', I can be the bigger person.

"It appears you have… Neji-senpai…"

I will never forget the face he made in a million years, in a thousand cycles of reincarnation even. He looked so satisfied. I wanted to crack him over the head with something and hug him all at the same time. It was definitely a strange feeling, one that I would not soon forget.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, Being-X likes to teach our OC that it is superior and won't be belittled by such a existence!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **pigs103**_

 _ **-Lo77**_


	10. Interlude 2

**Article 10 - Interlude 2 - The Awakening of a Crow**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

* * *

...

I was completely ready, but i still had to wait on my father before he could take me to the arena. Two Hyuga children were participating in an exhibition match and one of them was younger than myself.

It sounded crazy, but then again Itachi had already graduated the academy at the age of 7. I had asked Itachi about the contestants and all itachi had to say was "They say Mina may surpass my records."

My mouth hung agape.

"But you have the sharingan, and you are a genius… Surely the Byakugan isn't powerful enough to allow for that, everyone knows the uchiha are better. Dad says that's why they moved us into the outskirts of the village."

Then he poked me in the forehead. Weirdo… no one else does that… but then again I guess that means it's kinda special.

"Don't repeat what father says ever… and the sharingan is powerful, but it is not invincible, never forget that."

"Okay, sorry."

Then he had to go set off on a mission. The conversation just made me want to go witness the fight to see what the hyuga could do. They had made the cut to impress brother. Even father wanted to watch this. He said the hyuga wouldn't do this unless they were going to put on a display of power.

A child younger than myself had captured both my father and my brothers attention. I wanted them to take notice of me.

"Sasuke, your ready right? Let's go, we got about 10 minutes so we need to be out the door now."

"I've been ready."

…

* * *

It was unreal. So many people had shown up to watch. The seats were packed so it was fortunate father had already reserved our seats. We sat next to many of my cousins, uncles, and aunts. This much attention already and the flier says she is 4 years old… 4 years and 4 months.

She's nearly a year and a half younger than me, yet she drew this crowd? Surely she can't be that good, how old would she had to start training to be here already?

I couldn't help but visualize walls rise around me… figuratively of course. There must be so many strong people in this village. I wanted to bring pride to my family. I want to unlock my sharingan and become strong.

"This is some turnout. I don't know if we've ever had a exhibition match with such young talent before. The hyuga must be slaving their children. Let's see how effective that's worked." he finished with a snort.

I must prepare myself. I can't even blink. I'll watch it all to see the difference between us. To figure out where I need to be at to impress dad and everyone else.

She was so short, but her frame didn't look thin and girly. She had an air of confidence about her that already made her feel a level above him and he hadn't even seen anything she was capable of yet.

"How can she be so confident?" I wondered.

The shouts of the crowd seemed to drown into the background and I found myself thinking about this little girl… Mina Hyuga.

It felt strange. I didn't feel the need to befriend anyone outside the compound, especially girls, but she seems interesting. Like she's a different creature.

"Contestants take your places!" the sound system boomed.

The announcer's voice cut me out of my trance and my focus shifted back to the arena.

I need to pay attention. Show me what you are made of Hyugas.

"In the red corner, the challenger Neji Hyuga, 6 years and 9 months old has his sights on an upset. I'm told he underwent intense training specifically for this match, let's all hope he has a good showing!"

The announcer wasn't even talking like the kids were equals. Who is this girl?

"And in the blue corner, Mina Hyuga of only 4 years and 4 months old, the pride of her clan, will fight to protect her title 'Prodigy of Prodigies.' She is the holder of two Kekkei Genkai, the only in our village! Let's all send out a round of applause for our champion!"

I couldn't stop myself. Maybe I got caught up in the moment. I cheered Mina's name. I wanted to see her at her best. I wanted to see what she was capable of. I would get better than her eventually and be the talk of the village. I was from a stronger clan, It only made sense that I could be better if I received instruction. Was I getting ahead of myself?

"Alright! The rules are simple, blunted weaponry, fatal strikes are forbidden, and will be decided by forfeit or knock out. If the match isn't concluded in 10 minutes our judges will determine the results! Since we got that out of the way, Let's get ready to start everyone! The countdown is about to begin! 10! 9! 8-"

Both fighters took on differing stances while the countdown continued.

"1! START!"

Mina shot forward with speed that surprised me. I looked over to my father to read his expression. The corner of his mouth tightened into a grin. Father was enjoying this? Perhaps she will live up to the hype.

The older boy began throwing kunai into the ground while carefully backstepping. He was being weary. It would appear he didn't want a straight out confrontation. He must respect her skill greatly.

She began moving side to side. It seems the kunai are holding her at bay at the moment.

The boy reached for more kunai behind his back but Mina was faster.

She started locking him down from a distance with her own kunai. Each throw seemed rehearsed, sailing through the air on target. It was not just the fact Mina had two Kekkei Genkai that brought her to this stage. She had polished fundamentals. I was slacking. Her movements looked so refined.

She started to turn direction and blitz him.

Neji's main arm was tucked behind him and she swung her palm sideways even though she was several feet away. A white colored shaft extended from her arm and it was on course for the boys head… who was that again?

Neji ducked under the swing striking it with his offhand upwards.

Mina's arm was dragged upwards from the force and the shaft retracted back into her hand.

"Father what was that?" I shouted.

"She has a rare Kekkei Genkai that allows her to manipulate her bone structure. It's fairly strong, but paired with the Byakugan it's quite terrifying. If she were allowed to kill her competitor I'm sure her attack options would exponentially increase."

Wow. She was special indeed.

Neji had lassoed Mina's wrist with his wire string. She struggled with it for only a moment before snapping it.

Her bone manipulator Kekkei Genkai did seem very useful. What would I have done if my wrist were caught by wire? I would have been forced to confront my captor in a position of weakness.

A blast of chakra bust from Neji's palm.

"What? He can do such a technique at this age?!" My father exclaimed.

It would seem Neji is no slouch himself. Both of these combatants were living up to their name of prodigies.

Mina held her arms out in front of her ready to meet the advancing wave. Her palms glowed and she smashed her palms into the corner of the blast knocking it off course enough to get beneath it.

"Creative!" I hear my uncle say.

"These kids are something else. What are the Hyuga feeding them?"

My shoulders dropped at their words. I felt like I was so far behind my peers. Could I even consider these people my peers now? What had I been doing all this time?

I watched in awe as Neji now became the aggressor. He ran at her courageously without a trace of hesitation. He got close enough and jabbed at her with his glowing palm but unlike last time no waves of chakra came out.

Mina leaned forward… and Neji went at her chest with his hands… NO! He's weaving hand signs.

"The Transformation Jutsu?" I overheard my dad whisper.

I couldn't believe my ears. A trash E ranked jutsu used for infiltration?

Neji had now become somewhat taller and had four arms on each side of his body. He could attack or defend from any angle by the way they were situated. I had never heard of altering a transformation technique to allow for extra appendages. If that were possible why wouldn't handicapped shinobi who have lost arms not just use the transformation jutsu like this if it were so versatile?

All the arms approached her quickly and it appeared she was finally panicked.

The hands spread their fingers apart and simultaneously assaulted her body. It shook violently which made me cringe.

"What did he just do?"

She flipped backwards into a handstand and lashed at him with her spine which she retrieved from her body.

"He… He used the Gentle Fist to assault the tenketsu in her body disrupting chakra flow and sealing off parts of her bodies flow. The fact he did this with 8 hands means he could have taken out more than a fifth of all of them in one attack… Terrifying."

"It's likely that he sealed off the pathways on both of her arms. She's unlikely unable to perform the gentle fist in this state." My heart dropped at my uncles statement.

That transformation strike combination had effectively turned the whole fight around for him. Now Mina was being looked at as the underdog. I felt pity for her but what did I expect. A 4 year old can only do so much even if she is blessed with intelligence and powerful blood.

"Oh dear lord…" I heard my father whisper.

I turned back and saw Neji blast out 8 slabs of chakra. The Jonin ninja's body around the arena became tense but didn't run out to rescue her yet. The strikes were spread out far enough that she wouldn't get hit by all of the strikes, but they grouped into a large wave which made them seem inescapable.

Her spine whip began glowing and she lashed it out making contact with an aerial oncoming blast splitting it into two with a small gap at the bottom. She dove into the gap but was still pelted with another of the… I think i heard them called 'Air palm strikes.'

She tumbled to the ground spinning violently. I couldn't imagine being assaulted like that yet. Surely a small girl couldn't handle the beating she had taken this match even though it seemed she had an upper hand most of the match. The element of surprise is an invaluable tool.

She pushed off the ground landing back on her feet. She looked a bit shaken but the same aura of confidence was still being radiated by her. She still intended to win? No, It didn't even look like it was intention, she believed in her victory.

What is she?

Neji began his charge again, and swiftly her arm jolted forward carrying the whip forward with a *FLICK*

It caught his ankle and locked around it. I could see spikes extend and rip apart his ankle. That would no doubt be incredibly painful… yet he didn't falter.

Mina began pulling him towards her and I was completely captivated. She was reeling him in like a fish! That quickly ended after Neji raised several arms overhead and smashed the whip. He was still on limited mobility and I questioned why he didn't try to recast the transformation to temporarily deal with the injury or if it didn't work like that.

Mina pulled out numerous kunai and threw them into the sky with great arc. She reached back behind her retrieving more and layering her delayed attack from above with straight thrown kunai.

Neji fought off the storm of projectiles with tireless precision even though he must be feeling winded by now.

And…

A bone broke and snapped from the ground constricting around and climbing up Neji's body.

What? ...She tunneled the bone underground while he was fighting off her attack of kunai. Brilliant.

"Seems like she's a little tactician too. Might even give the Nara's a run for their money."

I couldn't help but to agree. To be in awe of this little girl a year and 5 months my junior.

Mina's bones slithered up his body from all directions and was fought off with 6 of his arms while 2 were raised head level.

Neji yanked on the bones which made Mina stand straighter.

The bones suddenly stopped their advancement.

Mina was flung off the ground into a backflip and landed on her head. Oh my god what happened?

"Dunno, maybe she froze up. She looked petrified after seeing those Air palms came out. She true combat experience so I'm sure this fight will be a learning experience."

I looked at her crumpled form in horror.

"Will… she be alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, Medical ninjutsu can do wonders if administered instantly, that's why there are medics stationed here. It seems she's pretty good but still has a long way to go." Father said as he took my hand.

"Dad… Can I catch up to her?"

He looked surprised but I could tell by his eyes he was amused.

"No…" He finally said. My heart sank. He didn't believe in me. "You would need to dedicate yourself entirely to walk the same road as her. The way you are I see that impossible."

Wait… behind all his reproachful words i heard something. He said If i dedicate myself entirely I could walk her road. I could be the same level as the same girl who was given the title of _'Prodigy of Prodigies.'_

"-But if i dedicate myself fully?" I asked. I wanted to hear him say it.

"You could do is a shame you are so soft."

Anger flared in me. I did not want to be soft. I wanted to dedicate myself.

"Can I learn to not be soft? I want to dedicate myself." I asked earnestly.

My dad just smiled… I think this was his intention from the start. He wanted to motivate me. I will rise and surpass his expectations. Anything to be the 2nd son in his eye's rather than itachi's younger brother.

"I will dedicate myself." I said.

"We'll see Sasuke."

I couldn't suppress the wave of energy that arose in me. I felt happy. I gave myself a worthy mission. I would catch up to her and be the pride of the uchiha.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** I thought about what kind of changes the story would undergo with the addition of this live exhibition match and decided that several of the clan's children would no doubt take inspiration in this to start taking their training serious or start it at all. I quick interlude from Sasuke's POV to see him forming a goal before the Uchiha massacre.

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_


	11. Chapter 8

**Article 11 - Chapter 8 - The Descent Into Madness**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

...

 **Pre-Notes: This chapter gives you a look inside Mina's mind and how it's changed since the match. I teased some stuff in the latest chapters that she seemed apprehensive about. That apprehension has mostly faded now with her single minded goal of staying safe through gathering power. Hope you all enjoy!**

…

* * *

 **(6 Months after my loss in the Arena - Age: 4 Years, 10 Months. )**

 **...**

I continued with my plans for the future. I created a complex substitution cypher that was a cross between english and latin. I also added a series of dead symbols throughout the text to enhance confusion.

I could finally make notebooks with hidden information without much care especially since each page was just filled with journal entries to the normal eye. I hid the real content behind the text, writing with chakra infused transparent ink.

I couldn't keep the notebooks in my families compound however, instead I had it hidden away in a standard storage seal on my person. I had managed to swipe one that wasn't being used some time ago, and I'm a small girl, I could easily just say that I didn't want anyone to read my journal.

I wasn't sure, but it made theoretical sense that people needed incredible sensory perception such as the byakugan to even notice it, and even after they found it it was unlikely they could crack it. Still

My physical training was coming along very well. Hiashi said that since my display in the exhibition match that it would be impossible to stall my entry into the academy.

I didn't believe him, but then again, I didn't need to. In the end I also want to join the academy this year. Sure, It would be annoying sitting through so much content that I would have already known, but I want to graduate early, just not too early. My goal is to be promoted just enough to make it into Neji's year and we would be able to be placed on the same team.

I didn't fully understand the team selection process, but I gleamed as much information as possible while trying to remain low-key.

I tried to think about any notable people in Neji's year but the only two that were relevant to me were Rock Lee and Neji. My Ideal team would be both of them and myself, along with Gai-sensei.

The inner gates was not a technique to scoff at. Any type of technique that was a power multiplier would place it's ranking of importance much higher than most. They were basically broken. They were the Meta.

Those who fell behind in canon were simply because their power scaling didn't include enough of these types of techniques. Sage Mode, Jugo's Curse Mark, the 8 inner gates, tailed beast chakra cloak, the Tenseigan's chakra cloak, ect…

If the world contained all of my knowledge, I doubted many would disagree with me..

The nearest possible power amplifier I could see myself acquiring would be the 8 inner gates, and the downsides of the technique could at least be partially negated due to Shikotsumyaku. It made the most sense.

-But before that I will have already secretly exploited the Uchiha Massacre. I wanted the Sharingan and I believed myself to make a plan with a high enough projected chance of success.

There was only one problem that plagued me. There was something I needed to learn and it was doubtful the information even existed at all within the walls of Konoha. I was either going to need to travel to Sunagakure, or I would need to undergo a few preliminary trials.

My heart thumped in my chest at the thought, like it were trying to be my conscience. Like I needed to tell me what was right from wrong.

-But it was Being-X that had redefined my morality. Many people would die, and there was little I could do about it. I could make sure their sacrifices aren't in vein, but what if that means I have to sacrifice additional people just to utilize the opportunity?

The answer was clear. I was calm. I would do terrible things if it meant I could gain power. I wouldn't like it, only monsters would find joy in such inhumane acts, but I could still do it.

I was equipped from head to toe in my ninja equipment.

I stared at the pipes mouth which spilled foul smelling sewage into a lake.

My last world's EPA would have had a heart attack seeing this. The ecosystem surrounding the pipe was withering away. It was highly likely the nitrogen content of the ground was far too high to support wildlife here now… but that's a completely different type of atrocity.

""Eww…" I whispered to myself looking at the pipe.

My resolve wasn't enough to falter and turn back, but I would need a second to prepare me for the horrors.

I drove a stake into the ground and wrapped some string around it tying it tight.

Some type of way to determine where the exit was would be helpful if I somehow managed to get lost. I had the byakugan but anything was possible, Being-X was still alive.

I jumped onto the mouth of the pipe. I didn't want to continue walking through the stream that oozed out of the pipe if I could prevent it, so I used the tree walking technique to walk along the top of the pipe.

Whenever the pipes would diverge I would draw an outline, like a basic map. I entered deeper into the labyrinth of the pipe systems until reaching a corridor. With my byakugan active I could see through the walls noting new pathways that branched off from each other, dead ends, and afew hidden rooms.

I hurried along to get closer to the hidden room I'd spotted, running with damp footsteps echoing loudly around me. I had made my bone density quite low, but the sound amplification from such an environment still caused my movements to be loud and carry.

I arrived at a wall, and behind it I could see some type of laboratory. I felt the walls but it didn't seem that there was any mechanism to open the room to me.

I laid my hand on the wall and made as thin of bone as I could.

 _I would be implementing the principle behind how plants could manage to grow through solid concrete._

I sent steady pressure on the thin bone pushing it into the wall. Little by little it wriggled through the small crack I lined my palm on and it began tunneling through. The bone reached the other side and I thickened the bone causing cracks to spread out from the initial crack in several directions. I kicked at the weakened area and it gave way, falling through to the other side.

Dust rose and had gotten into my eyes, it was uncomfortable. As the dust settled I squeezed my petite body through the opening wiggling my way to the other side. The room was eerie and contained many operating tabled stained with blood. Tools laid out rusted over from the damp environment and age.

There were several broken capsule chambers with their glass spread along the floor.

I noticed a desk in the far corner with papers spread along it and I walked over to it still weary of my environment.

This was likely one of Orochimaru's abandoned laboratories. The type of fanatic I remembered would be the same one to leave several traps one could walk into.

No hint of traps from my byakugan, but that just served to make me more nervous.

I hardened the exoskeleton under my skin, especially around my vital points.

I arrived at the desk and the papers were too caked in dust. I blew on them carefully trying to retain its quality and not lose information to damage.

The paper became legible after careful attention to it.

They weren't all related, but there were research papers on the principles of innate chakra natures, Diagrams of the body with notes crammed in the margins explaining different reactions the body could undergo with infusal of outside DNA. There were papers regarding the transference of a soul to a new body, and many other papers that seemed more basic or less interesting.

I had found a treasure trove of knowledge, but the notes I kept scanning through didn't have any direct information regarding what I was looking for. It would still no doubt be helpful, and working from established baselines that I considered to likely be credible would greatly help diminish the amount of time I would need to invest for the plan.

I started tracing the diagram of the body onto sheets of paper I had brought with me. I kept re-reading over the paper regarding soul transfer hoping to find some type of hint. Something that I overlooked.

It said that the soul resided in the 8th gate and the way to transfer it (or at least the way described on this paper), was with… a much more complicated version of substitution which would destroy their soul.

...There were also references back to a different paper about the basics of Yamanaka jutsu.

Okay… so the soul resides in the 8th gate, and if you wanted to permanently project your own consciousness into another body you would substitute their soul with your own. It makes sense.

-But what if I needed to learn how to capture the soul? To seal it into an object? How would one go about doing something like that?

I frowned.

It would seem there was still much work to do.

…

I made my way out of the tunnels and back to the outside world. It felt refreshing to finally be out. To see the sky in all its glory.

I might have found some good stuff, but with my family basically all having the byakugan, I couldn't afford to leave them in the compound. I couldn't think of a good place to put them and I refused to put them into the only storage seal I had. If I was caught with them on my person it would become very unpleasant.

I ran to the nearest stream and bathed myself, changing into civilian clothes after I was finished. I needed to blend into my next destination. I needed to glide past people's perception based on their 5 senses. I covered myself to be less identifiable. I used non fragrant cleanser to wash myself. I needed this to go perfect, I could only get caught red handed going to store these illegal documents, so this needed to go perfect.

I snuck into the hospital and picked the lock of its medical library by conforming my bone to the lock. This was the entry level collection and would be a decent hiding spot that I could control.

I needed to find archives that were closed for at least 10 years with the most dull subject matter to slip these papers into.

My heart pounded as I thought about being caught inside here with these documents.

It was a thrill. I felt alive.

I picked up my pace slipping into the records archives room that was filled with dust.

Perfect.

I dug through the drawers fingering the file headers looking at the dates. I found one cabinet which everything was dated over 20 years ago and I saw it.

 _Thesis: The similarity of agricultural and medical uses of nutrient replacement._

It sounded perfect. What kind of freak would ever go looking for a 20 year old document of agricultural and medical similarities.

I slipped the files inside besides the notes I took personally that I had left behind in the laboratory.

When I join the academy I can freely waltz into this area after getting a pass from the school. After I join I would spend time translating all the notes into my cyper code and destroy the originals. It was a good enough plan. Even if for whatever reason the notes were found before I could make my way back to them, they were all likely in Orochimaru's handwriting, in an area I didn't yet have access to, and in an area Orochimaru had access to long after the file was stored. It was the perfect plan. I couldn't see a way even Being-X could screw this up for me.

I felt my surroundings for chakra signatures before slipping out of the library unnoticed.

I started walking to the exit of the hospital with the sense of a huge burden released from me. I genuinely smiled from the successful-ness of my mission, and the ease of execution.

I made it to the doors, and they flung open into me.

I almost was knocked backwards but I caught my balance before I could tumble over.

I saw the form of someone that I knew, but not personally.

A ninja equipped with the black pants favored by the anbu. He towered over me and I briefly caught myself admiring his hair which was a bit darker than mine. Where mine was white as snow, his was a bleached color of grey. An eye was covered with his headband.

"My apologies." he said before realizing who I was.

I could tell he knew who I was, just by the way his pupil stopped on me.

"It's okay!" I said putting on a brave face.

He continued walking past me and I scurried out the door.

"Kakashi Hatake" I whispered to myself as I ran home.

…

The next day I snuck downstairs in the morning on my toes. I had lightened my skeletal structure to quiet myself further and started to gather my things. Ayasha-san had made a new rule that my training equipment be kept in cubbies next to the door so I couldn't just sneak out my window in the mornings anymore.

I didn't like the rule but I couldn't see fault with its intended purpose. Ayasha-san liked knowing when I left and where I was going. She used to be more lenient but it seems after some time she realized if she didn't exercise her parental rights I would simply do whatever I wanted.

"It's nice to see you this morning." I heard over my shoulder.

I gulped.

I turned around to see an irritated Ayasha. Her face could said it all. _"So your trying to give me the slip again are you?"_ I could imagine.

"N..Nice to see you too Ayasha-san! I didn't want to wake you so that you could get your sleep."

An eyebrow twitched at my words and I knew she wasn't buying it.

"Really? You are sneaking around for my benefit now?" she said but without letting me even answer the question she continued with "So where were you off to?"

"I'm just gonna go train." I said with a smile.

"Trying to escape from my cooking?" she asked incredulously.

This woman was trying to fatten me up. She had no context of the nutritional guidelines and how to build a body with nutrition. She just has wonderful genetics that stores fat along her chest and butt, but I couldn't afford setbacks and I didn't have the hormones necessary to distribute fat to the more ideal places because I've yet to enter puberty.

"Maybe only a little bit?" I said whole holding up my thumb and index finger to indicate the smallest amount.

She sighed.

"It's not your talent. Your food tastes amazing!"

She looked back like I wasn't telling the whole truth but that wasn't stretching the truth at all. She was a skilled cook and her dishes always tasted good, but she would load them with many unhealthy ingredients and cook so much that there was always excess.

"Then what?" she said while tapping her foot impatiently.

"It's just… You make me eat too much of nutrient rich food and I start putting on too much weight."

She looked offended.

"You are a growing girl! You need all the food you can to grow into your body and become a strong kunoichi. I swear, the only feminine trait you acquired is this unrealistic expectation of body image. It isn't healthy." She argued.

"I plan my meals to have enough energy to replace what I use in exercise and account for my growing body. Packing on fat will reduce flexibility and speed."

Her eyes narrowed… I think I may have inadvertently insulted her.

She closed her eyes and sighed pitching and rubbing above the bridge of her nose.

I will admit that I may not be the most fun child to raise.

"Come over here…" she said before bending down with her arms open.

I didn't dare try to tempt her and walked into her embrace.

"You're too smart for your own good… you know that?" I heard her say with a sniffle.

I wrapped my arms around her harder… not for me, but for her. It would seem I would need to comfort her. I wouldn't accept her coddling normally and I'm sure it's had negative effects on her. She probably thinks she is a bad mother or something. I would need to help her overcome this affliction or I will never get my time back to myself.

"I love you mom."

I didn't like dropping these sentimental lines often. They left a bad taste in my mouth and made me feel empty after saying them. I spent so much effort to stop myself from developing feelings. They sounded to me like empty words and that I was a monster to say those empty words.

But it was for the best, I could tell by the way she clung to me harder. She was making it a bit difficult to breath so I poked at her armpit and made her giggle.

I continued my attack and tickled her until she was hysterical. She picked me up and brought me to the kitchen where she started cooking. This time, she asked for my input for what I wanted to eat and I designed the breakfast we'd both eat.

When we sat down, I started digging into my food ferociously.

"Mind your manners. You will eat befitting of a lady of the Hyuga."

I couldn't argue with her so I slowed my pace and straightened my back.

"... I don't see how you could eat this over and over. You know there is more to life than just training?" she asked.

"Mhmm…" I said finishing the food in my mouth. "I still do some things just for me that isn't training… like for fun, but I want to become the strongest kunoichi to ever come from the leaf village so I can't afford to slack off." I said.

"Well… speaking about that… You have an appointment today I need to bring you to. You will be getting an advanced physical before attending the academy entrance exams."

"Mhmm…" I hummed with my mouth full of food while nodding to her.

Ayasha-san began giggling and I gave her a puzzled look.

"It's nothing." she insisted.

I dropped the matter and turned my attention back to the plate before me.

…

* * *

I underwent my advanced physical. They tested my blood, checked my reflexes, and examined my naked body. I didn't feel particularly embarrassed or exposed. If anything it felt strange that a woman was my physician as this had been done by men in my past life.

After the initial health tests, they moved into the chakra evaluation to which they stated that I contained much more chakra than they had expected for someone at such a young age, but even more than that my Spiritual energy part was much more developed than even my physical. They told me that I already had the Chakra reserves of an average genin to low chunin, and my Spiritual energy was as high as several among the special-Jōnin ranks.

The evaluation made sense, especially with some of the notes that I had gotten my hands on yesterday about chakra natures. It seemed each nature had a different ratio to spiritual and physical energies.

If that's true then I would have a good affinity for Yin release as far as I could tell.

Ayasha-san paid extra for them to be able to tell me my native nature affinity. The woman told me to grab onto this slip of paper and funnel chakra to it. I listened and the paper wrinkled and folded in my hand.

"Ah, lightning affinity, congratulations."

At this point of time I couldn't say whether it was the best release to be my primary but I wasn't complaining. Lightning would suit me fine.

Ayasha-san took my hand and lead me back to the compound.

"You are not to start working on any nature transformation until the clan approves it… but I know how your always planning ahead, so I figured I could give you this gift to help you plan for the future."

"Okay, Thanks!" I said bringing a smile to my face.

She stopped and turned around. She took a knee looking me dead in the eye. "I'm serious. You are to under no circumstances begin your nature transformation training until approved by the clan, do you understand me?"

I nodded as the smile left my face. She was dead serious. Something told me that she was going against the wishes of the clan just to allow me to know what my affinity was… why was this?

She tugged on my arm again setting the pace back to the compound again.

" _Ayasha-san gave me this gift… or is this some prank from Being-X to flaunt more material I would need to wait before learning… Whatever it was I would heed the words for now. Simply out of the respect of Ayasha-san."_ I thought.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, Mina is plotting her rise to power and I doubt you guys will realize her true plan yet. I left some hints across several of the last chapters and the first to guess it I will award with a cookie.

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Pandora**_ _(thanks for the multiple reviews. I could see the gears in your head turning trying to figure out where the story was going after each one, fun stuff.)_

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_ _(thanks for your in depth analysis and If you want to discuss your ideas or future content hit me up with a pm.)_


	12. Chapter 9

**Article 12 - Chapter 9 - Academy Arrival**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

...

 **Pre-Notes: Finally get to the academy. Had to take some time to develop some characters before the future chapters.**

…

* * *

 **(1 Week Later - Age: 4 Years, 10 Months. )**

 **...**

"Do you have everything?" Ayasha-san asked as she was pulling out the drawers in the kitchen peering inside.

"Yes, I made sure that I packed it fully the night before." I said picking my bag off the floor.

"Wait a second, I'm looking for something before we leave." She said while still fumbling in the drawers.

I sat on a chair waiting for the perpetual procrastinator genius Ayasha-san. She amazed me how she could wait until the very last minute to do things and manage to make it work, surely it was a gift… and a curse.

"Ah here it is! Dan-Dun-dun-Da!" She said as she pulled out a black elastic mesh hair scrunchie.

My eyes darted from the article to her eyes.

"What? Don't you like it?"

"-Of course! It's nice and compact, but in my hair it will draw people's attention wont it?"

"Baby, you are already gonna have everyone's attention, that should be the least of your worries. -Beside's, this scrunchie was given to me by my mother when I graduated the academy."

I couldn't believe that. I know she was going for sentimental, but that means it was subjected to years of sweat and filth right?

I looked at the item in Ayasha's hand for a moment longer before picking it up in my hand.

It seemed the mesh itself was elastical and oddly metallic. It felt well made and the fabric that covered it looked completely new.

I looked back to her with confusion.

"Oh, you can replace the cover silly. If you don't like the color we can always change it some other time. -But now we gotta get you to the academy, lets go missy!"

What a useful item to give me. That paired with its make quality and sentimental value makes it an excellent gift.

"I don't think I thanked you properly… Thank you."

She just flashed me a smile and grabbed me by the hand.

…

"You know you don't have to stay here. I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own if you want to leave."

She looked over and wacked me on the shoulder. "Trying to get rid of me already? I'll have you know this is a mothers birthright. A right of passage for all we have to put up with until now."

"No, no. I'm just making sure you didn't have anything you were missing." I said sheepishly.

"I made sure my whole day was clear."

' _Oh no… I hoped she didn't intend to stay after I went off to go to classes. Why do I even have to worry about this? I guess I can embrace it if it happens. Besides… I'll probably be able to test out of my class on the first day.'_ I thought to myself.

In front of the academy building there was a cluster of people waiting to get processed. The chatter of the crowd was pretty loud but I overhead "Yeah, it's a drag." I looked over and saw what could only be Shikamaru and Choji waiting in the middle of the line.

Before I even stepped behind everyone to get in line I already had a few people staring at me. Mostly parents but also some kids I didn't know or didnt recognize.

The line moved little by little until finally Ayasha-san and me were the front.

"Next… Oh Mina Hyuga?!" the man behind the table said.

He had on the typical chunin uniform and looked far more oriential than the rest. _I wonder if it would make me racist if I asked him if his eyes were open._ I hadn't even handed him the papers yet, he must have recognized me just by looks.

"Hi. I'm supposed to have everything ready, I just needed to give this to you guys right?" I finished before handing him the advanced physical.

"Hmm… Yup it all looks… wow… Y-yeah it all looks good here." He said waving like I could go inside.

I turned around to ask whether Ayasha-san wanted to go in with me, I figured it was fair enough that the way she's treated me she had a right to these things… but tears were leaking down her cheeks.

She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve and bent down to my level.

"You just are growing up so fast… I just want you to be my little girl a bit longer." she said.

I pulled her into a hug spectators be damned. If anyone opens their mouth about it I can lay them out and they'll learn quick.

"I'll try not to grow up too fast." I said with a smile.

"You do that…" She said finally letting me go. "Alright, well I guess this is where I leave you. Have a lovely day sweetheart."

"Mhmm. Thanks." I said with a nod before running inside.

Finding my way to my class was a little confusing. They hadn't provided me with any type of map and just gave me the room number. I contemplated just using my byakugan to look for my room but I figured that felt a bit like dependency. _I could definitely find my room quickly if I just… Oh here it is. Easy._

I walked into the room that was full of chatter. As I walked in it seemed like everyone stopped talking to look at me.

My eyes glazed over the room. It had far too many students and I could tell many of these kids would never even make genin. I walked up the steps to take a vacant desk with two chairs at the top. This class would be a joke and my vision would be plenty good enough to read anything off the board necessary, being in the back of the class gives you a better chance to multitask.

I was getting some glances from some of the boys, especially the civilian boys. They whispered amongst themselves nudging each other and giggling and then looking back to me again.

Annoying…

Sasuke entered the room and looked around. His eyes bounced around the room until falling on me and… was that a smile?

All the girls swooned over him as he walked. I personally didn't really see the appeal, the kid was 6.

I guess he was pretty symmetrical and everything but i'm not one for the broody types… Besides I hadn't even decided whether I liked boys or girls yet. Obviously I still like girls, but I'm likely genetically predispositioned towards men.

He kept walking up the steps… and kept walking up… and he took the seat next to me.

I eyed him curiously and he gave me a smirk. "Sasuke Uchiha." He said holding out his hand.

"Ehh?!" I let out uncontrollably. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. What the hell is wrong with me? No, what was wrong with him. That's not the broody edgelord personality I remembered… Maybe he only got that way after his family died?

"-Sorry for my rudeness. Mina Hyuga" I said as I shook his hand.

I heard gasps around the room and I was bathed in mean and dirty looks. I met there eye's with as bored and disinterested of an expression as I could manage. That served to rile them up more. They just made it too easy.

"I watched your exhibition match a while ago. You're pretty talented hn?"

"Good enough to earn the moniker Prodigy of Prodigies I suppose."

Sasuke folded has hands together and placed them on the desk. "... How early did you start your training?" he asked.

"My clan wouldn't let me start training until I was two."

"... wouldn't let you? You were the one pushing for your training?" He asked in disbelief. I noticed he squeezed his hands and his knuckles turned white.

"Yeah… I guess you could say I love pushing myself to my limits and exceeding them. Plus I knew I was going to be a kunoichi, I wanted to be as prepared as possible to limit my chances of an early death."

He just stared blankly at me until his hands finally relaxed. His head dropped, hanging down toward the desk.

 _Did I say something off?_ I thought.

A instructor with a scar across his face and brown hair pulled back walked into the room. The children from the class began quieting down. "Alr-"

"I'm here!" a rambunctious blonde said as he ran through the door. He closed his eyes and flashed a cheesy smile.

"Alright, class is about to start, go ahead and take your seat." the instructor said. " You can call me Iruka-sensei, and today we're going. . . . ."

…

* * *

The classes were so boring. We didn't learn anything pertaining to combat or tactics preparation which I had fully expected. We introduced ourselves and began learning mathematics and history. At one point I had to hold myself back from laughing at what one of the history books said. I had known it to be completely false but I guess the winners get to retell the story and fill the heads of those it indoctrinated with propaganda to help nurture the will of fire. It was both disgusting and intriguing to see it's effects.

The class moved outdoors to the training grounds in preparation for a Taijutsu evaluation to determine where everyone was at.

The class was split down the middle into males and females and I noticed that each side was uneven and that would likely mean that one of the boys and one of the girls would spar together.

"Sensei, it seems the number of boy's and girls are uneven. I volunteer to spar a boy."

The sensei looked down at his clipboard and I felt the heat of everyone's stares.

"I'm sorry, the arrangements have already been made." He said before listing off the pairings.

…

"...Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame… Sasuke Uchiha and Choji Akimichi …"

…

"... Ino Yamanaka and Mina Hyuga…"

I blinked. Ino was a weak Taijutsu user. I would have prefered a stronger opponent but who else were they going to give me Hinata? I'm sure they don't want the same clans going against each other during evaluations… _damn_.

I could see a mixed expression on Ino's face. Her face was red with what I could only assume was anger but she didn't say anything… In fact she looked unprepared for the fight. _It would seem my reputation precedes me_.

We took our stances as we waited for our instructor to start the match.

"You won't steal Sasuke away for us girls even if your some kind of hotshot." she whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

This girl was so clueless. If she worked on herself to make her better, she wouldn't need to fawn over boys. People will recognize your individuality and your strength be it emotional or physical. I reached both hands behind my head pulling the gift which was around my wrist to hold my hair back.

I let a sadistic grin spread across my face.

"Start!"

I launched forward and threw out a palm without the use of Gentle Fist. I aimed it at her shoulder and it slipped through her guard. I rotated hooking my foot behind her ankle and moved to a handstand while I lifted her leg with mine overhead. She had fallen backwards landing on her back and I brought my spare hand down to balance myself before I pushed off the ground.

I pulled my legs back and behind me as I rotated from my makeshift backflip landing on top of Ino stopping my fist before impacting her neck.

Her face was painted with horror as she was piecing together how she got here and what happened. "Victor Mina! -Seal of Reconciliation both of you so we can move on to the next match."

Ino's look went from terrified to furious. I could see tears start to form in her eyes even though they burned with… hatred? It would seem I had made an enemy today.

Both of our two outstretched fingers embraced, then Ino stomped off to her group of friends in a huff.

I heard grunts and gasps around me that faded into whispering. Everyone were glancing over to me quickly until they saw I noticed and they quickly turned their head.

"Hinata Hyuga and… Naruto Uzumaki."

Hinata's face turned red and she began quietly stammering to herself. Naruto was complaining to sensei because he was paired up with a girl and demanded to get a different partner.

Iruka looked towards Hinata and asked "Hinata… would you rather spar with one of the girls who's already went or with Naruto?"

She looked like she was going to implode on herself. I walked behind her and gave her a firm pat on the shoulder, I swear she almost jumped out of her skin, but it looked like that eased a bit of her tension.

"I...I-Accept Na...ruto." She squeaked out.

"I don't want to hurt you Hinata." Naruto announced.

Iruka gave Naruto a dirty look and said "Don't go easy on her Naruto... unless you want to lose to a girl?"

Oh that did it. He was bouncing around and shouted "You sure Hinata?"

Her face still red as a tomato, she nodded affirmative to his question.

"Take your places. I'll count you down…" He said before counting down and shouting "Start!"

Naruto didn't look like he had his whole heart in the fight but then again neither did Hinata.

"Show him how strong you are Hinata!" I shouted.

Doing that got me some surprised looks from our classmates but they quickly focused their attention back to the fight.

Naruto charged her and aimed a punch into her gut. She slapped his punch with a palm to knock it to the side and half-heartedly hit his chest with her other palm. Naruto was knocked backwards but didn't fall over. A look of surprise flashed across his face and he yelled "Wow Hinata, your pretty good aren't you?"

Her face flushed even redder and I saw her knees wobble for a moment.

"-But I won't be beaten by you!" he yelled before advancing again. Naruto threw a more compact punch which was caught and he twisted trying to add a kick. Hinata reached out and pushed under his armpit and he lost his balance landing on the ground. She leaned over him and made a fist questionably looking up at the teacher but he didn't say stop.

Naruto rolled backwards into a summersault landing clumsily on his feet before being struck again and landing on the ground. This time Hinata moved in position and threw her punch but stopped it quickly glancing over to Iruka again. He sighed.

"Victor Hinata! Make the Seal of Reconciliation and we can head inside.

Sasuke started walking towards me with a cocky smirk on his face. "I challenge the girls best to a spar. I want to see which of us is stronger." he said while he crossed his arms.

"I accept." I said immediately and looked over to Iruka. He shook his head to himself.

"I guess It would be a good showing to see how the classes top two compair." he said with a shrug. "We only have time for this one more spar before we're going inside. Let's make it fast."

I smiled internally. Sasuke would be no match for me but I guess he wanted to see that for himself. I'll show you the vast difference between our knowledge, experience, and skill.

This would be fun.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, Mina's mask is getting easier for her to wear. The emotions she shows externally are mostly deductions of what other people around her want and then giving it to them. In the next chapter Mina will be testing to advance out of her class and attempting to procure a Hospital Library pass - [ along with a few other things ;) ]

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-**_ _ **Killua Meatrider**_

 _ **-pigs103**_


	13. Chapter 10

**Article 13 - Chapter 10 - A Rival Appears!**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

...

 **Pre-Notes: Spent a bit of time Choreographing the fight, let me know what you guys think of it so I can figure out what kind of style to take in the future!**

…

* * *

I smiled internally. Sasuke would be no match for me but I guess he wanted to see that for himself. I'll show you the vast difference between our knowledge, experience, and skill.

This would be fun.

"YEAH SASUKE, GIVE IT TO HER!" Ino screamed.

Her friends behind her shouted cheers sasuke's way and I had a few supporters of my own, mainly lady Hinata.

We distanced ourselves and both raised a hand with two fingers extended, the sign to initiate a spar. I waited patiently for Iruka-sensei's countdown.

"3! 2! 1! START!"

We moved around a bit circling each other. It would seem we both wanted to feel out the other for our strengths and weaknesses. He closed in bit by bit and threw a punch and I ducked under.

He brought down his elbow, but I caught his tricep. I rotated and opened my hips with a kick and both of our shins met head level. I saw him wince perhaps because my bone density was a bit intensified like I like it unless I'm moving with speed in mind.

I came in with a flurry of palms trying to connect on either shoulder hoping to see weakness in his footwork, but it was fairly sharp and clean. I closed my hand during a strike and hardened my bones in my hand but he slapped my wrist causing it to miss.

He took advantage of how much momentum I used in my strike and kicked a leg out. I jumped into a backflip and he took a quick step forward.

I pulled my off leg's knee into my chest ready to unleash a kick if he got close enough. Now.

He caught the heel of my foot by crossing the thumbs of both hands in a V-formation.

He lifted my foot up and he moved forward moving me into a standing split and I pressed off his hand while sending my other leg into a straight leg kick for his face.

He let go and took a step back.

"Yeah Sasuke! You got her right where you want her!" a girl shouted.

I had to admit. Sasuke's taijutsu was pretty good, I briefly wondered if it would be in bad taste to activate my byakugan.

-But I had no time to wonder. Sasuke was on me looking much more confident prodding me with a barrage of low kicks.

I saw it.

I kicked a foot up to block his kick and lifted my other legs knee up to my chin. I fell downwards and launched a spinning scissor kick to his ankle while holding onto his other leg. My kick didn't connect as he leapt and twisted mid air bringing his heel into my shoulder.

I fell to my butt and he quickly advanced. I propped my body up with both arms and flung both feet at him. I kicked him back and bought myself enough room to jump to my feet. Perhaps it was too much to expect to beat this kid without using my byakugan and gentle fist, and minimal use of Shikotsumyaku.

Eh probably not, he was slowing down a bit and breathing heavy where I wasn't winded in the slightest. I'm far more used to chakra being spiked into my body during combat and long flurries of blocks and strikes. I was certain I had the advantage still.

But It made it a lot harder to read which of his body parts was the true attacks without being able to see where he was sending his chakra. I was initiating read blocking opposed to the prediction blocking that I had worked tirelessly to polish.

I fainted a two hand chest lunge but stopped, instead grabbing both arms as they came up to block.

I leapt from the ground, flexing my hips to rotate as fast as I could, following through and kicking off his chest with both feet. My teeth clenched together as I summoned the strength from my abdominals flipping my legs overhead landing the backflip.

He landed on his back, but rolled his hips overhead into a somersault and was on his feet in no time. He;s eyes glared at me from his crouched position and the crowd around us was all shouting. I didn't know what they were saying and frankly I didn't care. This was fun. This was amazing. Perhaps I should start practicing without my Byakugan more. It added a whole extra level of complexity that my brain thanked me for. I didn't realize it craved this.

Sasuke inched closer and suddenly short hopped, doing a 180 degree rotation, and quickly landing back on both feet. He threw a chest punch... and it stopped before I could catch it. His whole body leaned forward towards me and his pupils danced around soaking it all in. He bent his arm and turned his torso aiming his elbow for right above my knee.

-I caught his tricep with a stiff forearm before the elbow could connect stopping it in place.

I rotated with my leg fully extended locking my ankle in place and swiping his foot from him. He knocked me back with a palm and bought himself enough room to recover.

"She's scary…" I heard but I didn't care. "Look at that smile!"

I could feel the blood circulating in my body… pumping into my muscles and my veins were throbbing. This Adrenalin doped state was a delicacy and I couldn't get enough. I felt amazing of-course I would smile, it's only a natural response?

I jabbed my foot in his direction a few times and his leg bolted out. His foot landed on mine keeping it pinned to the ground. I took a step forward with my other foot and leaned as far forward until I pulled both arms down, launching my knee up with extra momentum.

Sasuke was forced to hop backwards off my foot to gain enough space to catch my knee. As soon as I feel the contact of the block I lean sideways and lift both legs off the ground. I tightened my core and swung my foot up and then drove it down following an elliptical path efficiency.

I felt the top of my foot make contact with something soft and it just kept sinking deeper into it with a *Crack*

I fall to my back and from the corner of my eye I see that he's on his back too.

Horrified gasps from the students crept into my ear but I couldn't understand why.

Sasuke brought both hands behind his shoulders and kicked into the air landing on his feet upright. _Hn, a kip up._

I performed the same maneuver and that's when I saw it. Sasuke's nose was offset and was a bit bloodied. "The Ma-" Iruka started.

"-NO!" Sasuke said while extending his hand to Iruka. He reached behind him fumbling at his waist until retrieving a clothespin and clipping it to his nose. "I will continue."

Many of the students face's around us transformed into comical derp looks as if they couldn't even process what was going on.

Sasuke charge me and I kept him at bay by lifting my knee and giving him a few well placed leg extension kicks. He bobbed around some of the kicks and slapped at my ankle. I had the leg strength to not let his slaps effect me as I continued the barrage.

I got him with one on his thigh causing his balance to falter.

I rotate 180 degrees away from him while lifting my plant foot up, falling into my landing on my palms. I flexed and twisted my wrists aiming a kick behind his heel before he could gain his balance.

He thrust both legs up over it narrowly avoiding it by bending backwards onto his hands until my follow through was finished and his feet touched back down.

I leapt up off my knee onto my feet with rehearsed mechanics. My knees were still bent and I thrust my torso sideways, cocking an elbow back while putting all my strength into my jab.

He leaned sideways and lifted his elbow allowing the strike to sail under his arm. His elbow shot down pinching his side and catching my arm in a lock.

I sunk as low as possible straining his hold slinking under him and knee'd the back of his balance foot causing it to bend. Simultaneously I scooped and locked the last foot into the air causing him to fall to his back again. He kicked at me with the foot that was free rolling side to side but I absorbed the shock of his kicks by changing the density in my arm significantly while dragging him around.

I brought my elbow down on his knee but stopped before the hit landed looking to Iruka-sensei.

He shrugged, and that momentary lack of concentration let Sasuke kicked out of my hold. He transitioned into a back handspring and I aggressed to swipe out his stabilizing arm. He picked it off the ground placing his other arm down to hold him upright until landing on his feet.

"You won't win!" He hissed.

He looked pissed and lunged at me with a punch, I caught his wrist with both hands and pulled him off balance exploding forward past him under his arm I held coming out behind him,dragging his weight back with me.

I leapt off both feet and tapped his stabilizing foot while ripping his arm slinging him overhead impacting the ground. I took advantage of his moment of breathlessness and wheezing to lunge at his neck, stopping before contact.

Sasuke's groaned, twitched, and convulsed on the ground.

"How dare you hurt Sasuke like that! YOU MONSTER! … Here Sasuke." Ino said as she extended him an arm.

Sasuke slapped her hand out of his way and struggled to his feet on his own but still slumped over.

Still trying to catch his breath, he punched the ground and clenched his teeth so ferociously I thought they may shatter. He gave me a look of absolute fury. It would appear I made another enemy today… whoops.

He got to his feet and walked up to me slowly.

"Sasuke stop, Mina was the victor." Iruka reprimanded.

"I...know." he said extending his two fingers and closing his eyes.

Oh right, the seal of reconciliation, I had completely forgot.

Our hands embraced in the hold and he opened his eyes looking a fair bit more calm.

"You are just as amazing as I remembered… and you didn't use your byakugan." He said.

"Ya… You were amazing too. That was fun." I said cheerily.

Ino stepped into my face after we let go and added "That was fun for you?! That fight was way too hard for a spar!"

Sasuke's hand extended and clasped onto Ino's shoulder."You'll never get better if you don't push yourself…" He said.

It didn't even look like Ino heard Sasuke's words the way she lit up likely from his touch and she just nodded her head energetically.

…

* * *

The rest of the day was boring, and when classes finished I remained in my seat until most of the class had left.

"Iruka-sensei?" I asked.

He glanced over and gave me a puzzled look. "Hm?"

"I want to test out of this class and go up one year."

He remained silent for a moment before eventually letting out a sigh. "You are certainly advanced enough to handle the higher leveled courses… but we would need to test you to make sure you have the knowledge to skip past the classes."

I nodded at him energetically until stopping myself thinking that I must look like Ino now.

…

* * *

I finished up the paper in front of me and stood up from my seat walking over to Iruka-sensei.

"Here it is." I said as he grabbed the paper and began scanning it. He tapped each question with his pen for a moment until moving down the list. This continued until he ran out of questions and looked back up. "Perfect score. I think it wouldn't be any trouble moving you up a year or two, but I will have to discuss it with my superiors. You're free to leave for the day."

"Not two years, One. I only wish to go up one year."

"I see, I'll keep that in mind Mina-san."

 _Did his eye just twitch?_

"Umm… actually, I was hoping I could get granted a pass to enter the medical training library."

"Honestly, I don't know if anything you could say could surprise me anymore." Iruka-sensei groaned. "I'll mention it when I bring up your advancement."

I walked out of the room in one of the best moods of my life. I was wholeheartedly giddy which is not something I could honestly say often. I skipped off for the compound feeling very accomplished today.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I'm not sure how I'm doing with these fight scene so I'd very much welcome suggestions and feedback. I wonder if I'm getting too involved in the technical. Taijutsu fights, I'm sure, are way more fun to watch than to read about. Let me know your guys's opinions.

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-**_ _ **Killua Meatrider**_

 _ **-pigs103**_

 _ **-Pandora**_


	14. Chapter 11

**Article 14 - Chapter 11 - That Which Lies Beneath A Mask**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

...

* * *

Hiruzen sat behind his desk pinching together the last scraps of his tobacco loading it into his pipe. Fatigue crept up on his aged body quicker and quicker. There was no one who were quite capable enough to take over for himself yet. His own students that he groomed for the task had all been outstanding failures in different regards. It was his own fault. He had no difficulty teaching the students power, but developing their character into upstanding and model ninjas is where his deficiencies as a Sensei became apparent.

An expected knock sounded on his door. He forced his body more upright, a posture befitting a kage. "Enter."

The door swung open and in walked Iruka along with several papers in hand. He quickly closed the door behind him and stood at attention.

"So, the matter of Mina Hyuga… What are your opinions?" He asked bringing his pipe to his mouth.

"She is certainly a prodigious talent the like the leaf has not seen since Itachi. Her understanding of academic material goes far beyond memorization. It is in my honest opinion that she holds deductive reasoning and a razor wit that far surpasses that of any of her peers… I would go so far to say it surpasses any student I have ever had."

"Heh, she is certainly a rare talent." Hiruzen leaked out in a puff of smoke.

"Her Taijutsu affinity is uncanny even compared to the Hyuga. It is as if she threw the book out and wrote her own. During her first spar of the day I did not see anything out of place. She simply used enough force to overwhelm her opponent without injuring them and didn't seem to take pleasure bullying the weak."

"I see." The elder said with a solemn nod of his head.

"But during the second spar, when she was pitted against a stronger opponent she showed an uncanny knack to attack relentlessly in a craze until she began to see her victory. If he had surpassed her… I believe she would have had no reservations for his personal safety in the slightest." Iruka finished.

"I see… So what is your unfiltered opinion?" Hiruzen asked with unwavering, hardened eyes.

"She is incredibly anti-social. I am told she only will associate herself with those she deems as exceptional, and even then she treats them with contempt. The satisfaction I could sense from her during the spar, and thirst she had for the combat... made my skin crawl… She strongly reminds me of the Kaguya clans demeanor and brutality. However, where they had mostly been brutes with few talents outside combat, She contains a scary amount of intellect and insight. Truth be told I am afraid of my own student."

Hiruzen chewed on this tip of his pipe for a moment collecting his thoughts. "Tell no one else of this. I will personally investigate and take in interest in her progression. It's a tragedy that one so young was subjected to the suicide of her mother, but it was a small blessing that she was born into the branch family guaranteeing her loyalty to the leaf. Go ahead and advance her the year so she can join the other Hyuga prodigy. It will be much easier to develop a comprehensive psychological profile seeing how she reacts to those close to her." He said finally finishing with a sigh.

They chatted for a few more moments before dismissing Iruka to leave and Hiruzen leaned back in his chair. He lifted a finger and a tile on the roof shifted. A blurr and suddenly there was a ninja who dropped to the floor garbed in traditional Anbu attire.

"Keep an eye on Mina Hyuga whenever she leaves her compound. Don't make yourself apparent to her clan and only observe… You are one of the only loyal subjects I have with the skill set to do this. Please don't let me down. You're excused." He let out.

This girl, not even the age of 5 had managed to attract everyone's attention be it good or bad. He had briefly regretted strong arming Hiashi into keeping the child after all the events that came to unfold. It was as if it were a divine punishment cast down on him.

He loved his village and it's residents from the bottom of his soul. The potential power of the Shikotsumyaku, and the fact that there could be a Kaguya clan heir born inside the walls of the village was too tantalizing to give it up after the wake of destruction and the loss of military strength the Kyuubi attack caused.

He laughed. A slow chuckle that came out more like a rasp. "What would you have done Tobirama?" he let out in a hushed whisper.

...

* * *

"On the first day of the academy you already requested advancement?" Haishi-sama asked with anger in his voice.

"You told me to make sure to stand out above my peers… what other way possible than to leave them behind and advance?" I asked earnestly confused.

Hiashi looked me up and down with skepticism and doubt in his eyes until eventually in time it melted away.

"It would appear I overestimated your analytical and decision making skills. You are still but a child after all, even if everyone around you forgets that, including myself.

 _What? Did Hiashi just admit a personal fault of his own? Only he could be so pretentious to need to bundle it with belittling me to even say it out loud._

"I am sorry Hiashi-sama. I beat the child of the Uchiha's head in taijutsu today without the use of the byakugan, and without any visible use of the Shikotsumyaku. I figured if I proved myself capable of completing the coursework there was no longer any reason to stay in my class. I requested to test out and received a perfect score." I said.

"Hah!" The uptight man let out before briefly composing himself again. "The fact that you were admitted so young, and sook to advance so quickly will put pressure on the other clans straining our relations with them. After all, you are not an heir, you are but a member of the branch family… Why do you suppose that Neji, as brilliant as he is, has not began early advancement?"

I took a deep look in Hiashi's eyes hoping to gleam the answer he wanted from me. It wouldn't matter what my personal opinion of the matter was.

"... because you requested him not to?" I struggled questioningly.

"... because I forbade him. We started you in classes early so this wouldn't need to happen. I didn't think that it would be necessary on your first day of classes to expressly tell you but I seemed to have overestimated you… or underestimated you... I've yet to decide."

I knew exactly what he was talking about and it took everything I had to hold the smile that wanted to creep out at bay. I gave him a puzzled look hoping to soften him up but he leaked out some killing intent that made my whole body stiffen.

"What am I going to do with you… This is truly troublesome…" He let out before resting his head on his palms. "Take your leave before I change my mind." He spat out. I was moving before he had even finished his sentence. I wanted to escape as fast as possible.

I was surprised to find how opposed he was of my advancement. I had been very fortunate to propose advancement so early before Hiashi gave me express instruction not to. I was right, it is much easier to ask for forgiveness and feint ignorance, than to ask permission.

…

* * *

The very next day I rushed to the academy, bag in tote. I leapt along the sturdy roofs of buildings on what was dubbed "The shinobi highway." Chakra was a wonderful addition to life. Humans were the ones who cultivated it into ways to wage wars and violence. If they had used it more respectively perhaps there wouldn't even be a need for shinobi in this world, but that was just a pipe dream.

I was placed in this world no matter the sentiments I hold, and I'm forced to adopt a morality befitting my continued existence, so there is but a single path I am left to walk. I nodded my head having long accepted this but reassuring it to myself.

I arrived at the gates and walked into the grounds. The registrar who was seated in front of the entrance yesterday was gone, likely back to their internal office. Pushing the door open, I stepped inside the building and waltzed up to the front office. There was a secretary seated behind a desk which seemed very engrossed in her work. My head barely reached even with the countertop and sure that she hadn't seen me I reached my hand up 'dinging' the bell.

She shifted in her seat looking side to side before looking down and seeing me. I gave her a brief smile before saying "My name is Mina Hyuga and I'm unsure if I was advanced to a different class."

She eyed me for a moment before looking down at the papers spread before her. After a brief moment, she stood up and knocked on the wood door behind her before sitting back down. "The registrar will be with you soon. You may take a seat," she said while indicating to a row of chairs lined up against the wall behind me.

I waited watching the clocks hand click second by second. With my focus now on it, the sound became all I heard before the influx of kids were sure to come bursting in soon. The wooden door behind the receptionist opened and the same very oriental man stepped out from the room.

"Mina Hyuga?" He announced looking over to where I was sitting.

"Yes!" I responded moving to my feet.

"Come on back," he ushered with his hand as he stepped back into the room he had just left.

I calmly made my way back there hoping that it wouldn't be evident of how excited I was.

After I made my way inside and shut the door I took a seat in front of the desk in the closer of the two chairs.

"You requested advancement I see here… Yes, it seems your request was granted and your room number will now be . . ."

I was overcome with satisfaction. I couldn't believe it. My plans always had met more resistance than this, but I was being handed exactly what I wanted without reservation. Somehow, Hiashi hadn't exercised his power to prevent the school from advancing me. The school didn't have a qualm letting a 4 year old (Be it 4 Years 10 Months) into classes with 7 year olds. This was perfect.

I was rubbing my hands together like I was the antagonistic plotter out of some children's story. The appeal used to be completely lost on me, but somehow I had found myself doing it of compulsion after all of my plans were aligning so well. Perhaps I really am a genius?

I felt very content walking to my new classroom, but I needed to rebuke myself before stepping through the doors. I would be the very best this class has to offer, and if somehow I cause Lee to rise in class rankings out of dead last, my dreams of teaming alongside him would be shattered.

Rock Lee was one of the few… characters? ...that I found myself wholeheartedly respecting. If it were not for the caricature of Lee I held in my memories, I doubt I could have dedicated myself so wholeheartedly to the training I put myself through… Even in my past life, there was something about Lee's indomitable will that had helped shape me as a person. Of Course I would revere this person even if he were just a weak snot nosed brat without any talent now.

Suddenly I felt sick, like I couldn't stomach the idea of Lee seeing past my mask and seeing the person I am.

Sometimes meeting our heroes helps us realize that we are all just human, but what if I wasn't even human anymore? Can someone who persists against the will of a divine being truly be called a human, or have I transcended into something else entirely… whether it be for good or bad?

Even more, What if Rock Lee didn't like me? What if he thought I was a monster?

My heart sunk in my chest and my skin felt icy all over.

" _Why am I getting all worked up?!"_ I admonished myself

There was nothing more I could do, I had prepared for this moment long ago, All I can do is walk the path before me.

I gulped, steadying myself before walking into the class.

...

I avoided associating myself with anyone except Neji in the class, which was fine because he had no desire to associate himself with anyone else either. We kind of had a love hate relationship at this point and I'm sure it wounded his pride to see me now in his class after starting the academy only yesterday. We made small talk and completed all that was asked of us. It seemed I didn't have any obvious secret admirers in the classroom, perhaps because I was much younger compared to them, or because of the air of unapproachability I kept up.

I want to make the least possible impact on this class as possible unless I start seeing unfavorable changes from what I was to expect from the canon story. I just want some trustworthy and strong teammates I can surround myself with.

School ended without anything of particular importance to note. I received my pass from the registrar before I left school to be able to enter the medical library. I started making my way to the hospital before stopping in my tracks.

Something was off… I didn't know what it was, but something in my body told me not to go to the library right now. I kept walking around the village for a bit, stopping in stores without any intent to buy anything.

I had this eerie feeling about me that was unsettling.

Everytime I entered a store, I would browse around until I could get enough privacy to activate my byakugan. Each time I didn't see anything concerning or repeat shinobi signatures like they were following me.

Somehow that made things more unsettling for me. _Was I just being paranoid?_

I didn't know but I would rather be overly cautious than ignorantly incompetent. I continued taking these pit stops until I noticed something peculiar. There were some bugs that never seemed to stray too far from my position. They were completely devoid of chakra which made them easily dismiss-able, but how many times they had shown up during my searches was unsettling.

It would seem an Aburame could be following me… or I am deeply paranoid. I decided to go to the library anyways.

After arriving I checked in and was lead back to the trove of knowledge. I decided it would be idiotic to go for Orochimaru's research papers while I had a potential tail on me, so I merely sat in the common area and stacked medical text beside me starting to read and read. It's not like I still can't do productive things and establish a precedent that I come to this library just for light medial text.

Although the sheer number of documents and volumes of text I studied could in no way be considered 'light.'

Everything that had to do with anatomy, physiology, and chakra pathways I read greedily.

I needed it for the future.

I found myself uncomfortable and propping my head up with my hand slumped over trying to continue reading the text, but I was becoming slightly restless.

I looked up to the clock and realized it was becoming late. I had been excused from the clan's physical training today with the blessing of Hiashi. I told him I wanted to start learning the concepts behind physiology to help the effectiveness of my byakugan, and he admitted that it's a method used by many of the clan.

I wasn't allowed to access anything other than general documents of the Hyuga archives because of my lowly position in the clan and the fact I was not yet a full fledged shinobi. Hiashi considered to allow me entry but said that many of the main house would feel personally slighted if he let me. He seemed in favor of me dedicating my time this way.

I pulled my hood over my face activating my byakugan again. The same few bugs seemed to hover around the area outside the library and even noticed one inside on a roof panel.

I was now 99% certain I was being spied on… but why, for what reason? What could I have possibly done to the Aburame? Surely this wasn't some quaint recon on a blosseming pupil, why would they still be following me?

I started to feel a bit out of my element and I cursed to myself under my breath.

I cursed the one name I held in contempt over any other.

"Damn you Being-X."

…

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I'm thinking that there should be about 2 more chapters till the the impending Uchiha massacre. I've recently read over all my chapters after a few comments and realized that the quality of writing I was outputting was too low for my standards. I really want to continue pumping out content so I'll likely go back and edit/tweak the chapters in the future to fix this. This is my first attempt with 1st person and I've been neglecting my editing and revisions because when I start getting in that mode I never stop. I compulsively edit and revise endlessly until I lose the passion to write new material. I'm definitely a perfectionist at heart and I believe that it would be better if I post content quickly, get opinions, and revise later.

Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. -No, really. I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-**_ _ **Killua Meatrider**_

 _ **-**_ _ **notlair**_

 _ **-RankoReaperOfSouls**_

 _ **-Azaira**_


	15. Chapter 12

**Article 15 - Chapter 12 - Experimental Distraction**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

…

 **(Over 1 Year Later - Age: 6 Years 1 Month. )**

…

I can feel madness enveloping my mind. As soon as I leave the compound I am followed. The surveillance has never stopped. No amount of dedication and acting seems to appease them.

Perhaps somehow I was caught putting the documents into the medical library... but If they had proof surely they wouldn't just watch, they'd ask some kind of questions… maybe they found them and Kakashi reported that he saw me leaving the hospital?

The migraine behind my eyes seared. Burning like a constant reminder of my curse seal.

I hadn't dared even return to the record archives in the Medical Library. It was too risky. One mistake could label me a traitor or worse monster for life.

I could see it now. They would call me the fem-Orochimaru.

My teeth gnashed together.

I always have to be on my toes, and the mask I carry has only become a greater burden. My defenses can never be let down. Unlike the prosecution who need to get lucky once, the defendant has to constantly work to not be caught. I can't ever have a moment to myself.

Either likely one of the Hokage's dogs follow me around, or the all seeing eyes of the Byakugan are all around me.

Screw this village! It's the worst damn one I could have been born into. I could exceed in anything with enough dedication and it seems the whole world wants to shackle me down.

NO! I REFUSE. I OBJECT!

Today, I have a plan to be able to slip my observer. Work could finally get done. Today I could actually make progress!

Progress on the plan crawled to a screeching halt since 5 months ago. There is no more that can be learned by simply re-reading the copies of Orochimaru's notes that I still have stashed in the underground lab.

I built a false wall to enclose the lab back up so that it would be much harder to find if anyone comes snooping.

I only managed to return to the lab 3 times in this past year. Saying that, "my time windows of unadulterated freedom are obnoxiously narrow" would be an understatement.

What had I ever done to deserve this treatment?

Nothing yet— but I'll give them a reason to fear me.

I felt suffocated. Like walls were closing in on me and there was no escape. Like the world suddenly had less oxygen available for me and I would die choking for breath.

This past year has certainly been a trying time. Today I would rise out of this fog, and arrive past the clouds.

Over the past year inside the hospital I had managed to steal some basic medical tools, learn how to make all different types of tranquilizers, and had managed to snag various medical ingredients from the rooms of hospice patients.

Hospice patients get prescribed fast release heavy sedatives, ideal for a tranquilizer's base. Also, who's going to complain or ask questions about a dying man taking too much sedatives?

I had everything already stored into my bag. A year full of small steps of preparation... for today.

Today would be the day I wriggle out from my observers thumb and fall off the map temporarily.

It wasn't anywhere close to foolproof or perfect, but it didn't have to be. I've been a good little girl this year without slipping this watchdog that hounds me relentlessly.

It shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that a prodigy from the hyuga clan caught on that she had someone stalking her and she managed to give them the slip. The only real problem would be that this person was very likely to be from anbu.

This problem of course only was a problem if I was caught. If I could be quick enough, there was a chance I could go completely unnoticed...

I've been running out of time. I need to discover the full process to convert someone into a human puppet.

The way I remember Sasori describing it seemed so obscenely simple, yet there had to be a reason that he was the inventor and nearly the only user of the technique.

There was no way he was the first to think of the technique, he was just the first to succeed.

The human body is an intricate machine. Too much tampering and it became useless, but not enough tampering and the body would continue its slow breakdown until it became useless.

Unacceptable… That would be completely unacceptable.

I only had one true shot at obtaining my sharingan puppet that I've been working towards for the last 3 years. I wouldn't accept failure. No, I literally can't. I was sure if I didn't take this opportunity, that Being-X would make me regret it for the rest of my life — no matter how short.

No, I needed to be over prepared.

It would become my greatest trump card in the battle between life and death. I will have those damn eyes. Best of all, I wouldn't take the constant chakra drain penalty from the inability to switch them off, like if they were transplanted into myself (Which I couldn't anyways… unless I could escape the village, but I wouldn't want to if they would eventually blind me one day.)

…

* * *

 _Click, click, click._ My footsteps rung out through the hallway on my way to the library. I was approaching the intensive care facilities, I bottled all my chakra into my body. I strained against the grain of my chakras flow trying to keep it as still as possible. If none escaped from my body, then it would take absurd skill to continue to track me.

I ducked past a 'restricted, authorized personnel only' door and carefully snuck my way into the storage closet.

I had noticed this some time ago, but underneath the hospital was a tunnel connecting to 'Hokage Rock.'

I put my gloves on and activate the byakugan. I quickly bent down fumbling my hand behind a shelf trying to pull the drawstring without disturbing anything. The floor spread apart revealing the mouth of the tunnel, and after taking a few steps down I grabbed each side of the floor and slid them back together to seal the entrance.

I desperately ran while not letting my chakra flare the whole time. My body had gotten pretty good about being able to exert myself without using chakra.

I had a 5 minute mile time without the use of chakra so the run took no time at all to complete. The tunnels started branching off and I took one that took me in the opposite direction of my true directive. Right before arriving at the surface, I used the opportunity to change clothes, and squirt myself with a mist of 'desensitizer spray'. It kills odors and masks smells. I had to be absolutely sure nothing could give me away, then I proceeded to use the transformation jutsu to take the form of a standard traveling merchant.

I hurried along a route of trails to walk the outskirts of the village far past the walls. Whenever I saw or sensed someone, I took my time to quietly hide until they left. Slowly but surely, I arrived at a different sewer gate than my practical entry.

I didn't want to 'shit where I ate', per-say, so I decided to take a sewer entry as far as possible from Orochimaru's hidden lab that I discovered. The putrid smell never got better. Each and every time I came into these 'filth tunnels' I nearly found myself gagging. I tried my best focusing on breathing through only my mouth, but in a drippy pipe opening your mouth presented a worse problem.

I arrived underneath a destination that I needed to stop at. It was a common area for those who are part of the genin core. These sad saps wouldn't have a jonin instructor assigned to them and would instead be under the advisory of a chunin and this is where most of the fresh graduates end up.

The Manhole was so perfectly constructed over a narrow walkway which cut visibility and increased traffic over it. Whoever constructed it this way might have been a nefarious genius. Who better to abduct but ninja who have chakra but barely any technique or power. I swear to god, I might be standing in some kind of hotspot for abducting children at one point.

With my byakugan I patiently watched and waited. I would find someone secluded and make sure that no one was around to notice them disappear. Groups and potential marks passed by in like but there wasn't a good opportunity to just make one vanish yet. I needed to make sure this wouldn't fail, and that I wouldn't be exposed.

I waited… and waited… and damn was I kept waiting - until a lone boy started making his way towards me. The kid couldn't have been older than ehh… 12 or 13.

 _Boo'd Up._

He kept walking my way, and soon he would walk right across the manhole cover. I tugged on a piece of wire tied to the manhole cover to make sure it's connection was still tight.

I cocked my elbow back and waited… patiently.

-and… _POP,_ my palm shot out, striking the corner of the cover closest to the approaching boy. The lip popped up and I wrapped his ankle with my bones. I jumped from the latter dragging the boy with me and causing the manhole cover to snap back into place.

I covered his mouth and injected him with the homemade tranquilizer. I held his mouth and nose shut for about 45 seconds until I was sure he was out cold, then slung him onto my shoulder.

I have to say, Neji is truly impressive. I had tried making additional arms with my transformations but they were so incredibly wonky to control and materialize then keep material that it felt completely impractical to even use it. Neji must have trained very hard to be able to pull that off in live combat with me.

I hurried along the pipes without the need of my byakugan anymore. I didn't want to radiate anymore chakra then necessary to not call attention to myself. A hyuga village watchmen could potentially spot me underground but it was unlikely, but if they did they would see some 30 odd year old looking man taking the kid and not me.

I snaked my way around quickly slinking into different pipes and passageways. It would be a decent journey to get to the labs because of the twisting nature of the sewers. They were a labyrinth which is why I was fortunate to already have a map drawn out to help me navigate to the destination.

...

* * *

The kid was sprawled out over the operating table restrained as I set up all of the tools I'd need to use. A faint but constant drip echoed in the room. I washed my hands and was preparing psychologically for the operation taking deep breaths.

"... muuueh?" I heard from next to me jolting me to alertness.

I looked over and saw the patient with his eyes open starting to weakly fidget with his restrains.

"Aargh… huh?" He let out now noticing me. His eyes were open wide and so big. They were full of confusion and fear. "Wha.. happened?"

I reached for the syringe and was forced to load it with more sedatives.

"Wha-what's happening? Please… I-I-I don't w-want this? Can you let me go p-please?" He let out desperately as tears started flowing down his cheeks.

My heart palpitated but I continued filling the syringe and looked over to him. "I'm… sorry." I let out with a surprisingly struggled breath.

"W-wait! What's happening? I-I gotta git back home, I just got mom a present for her birthday… and I can't miss it."

My heart jumped - _Boo'd Up._

I finished filling the syringe turning around and making my way towards him. "Sorry," I whispered.

"STOP! W-wait… I just got strong enough to fight off the bullies for my little brother, and-and-and there's this girl I like … well she doesn't even know I exist but I haven't been able to tell her anything yet. Please!"

 _Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up._

He was making this difficult, the faster I can get him sedated the sooner I don't have to listen to his pleads. I can't have him dredging up any of my shreds of humanity that remained.

"It's going to be okay, just relax." I lied.

I took another step forward. _Boo'd Up._

"Stooophh! Iiii'm sorry, I didn't mean to pee in Kouharu's boots, Well-well, I-I did b-but I'm re-really sorry. Promise I'll never do something soo stupid again. Right? Really - I swear! This is all some big scare? I-I learned my lesson and 'mmh real sorry! -Please!" He said even more desperately as I drew near.

 _Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up._

His eye's gushed tears and he fought against his constraints. "mh-Ma-MOSTERRRR! AAUURRRGHHHHH!" He screamed. It was a deep blood curdling scream, the like born of hope and despair intermingled.

I instantly reached out covering his mouth with my hand. He tried to bite down on my hand but I had already made an exoskeleton. A pained look shot through his face as he kept trying to bite at my hand, teeth snapping from his jaw, both falling out and popping, some being flung across the room.

 _Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up._

I quickly stuck him with the needle and pushed 10cc's of the sedative into his carotid artery. He fought hard but his fight slowly eased until he was unconscious again.

 _Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up._ My heart was racing. My breath felt trapped in my lungs. Goosebumps already swept over my body. I had a knot in my throat.

The kid layed there, peaceful, sprawled out and restrained to the metal table.

My knees felt weak as I stared at his face that no longer showed any signs of the terror he had just experienced. Now he was at peace.

The syringe fell to the floor. _Ktshhht!_ More shattered glass spread across the floor in a wave.

 _I'm a monster?_ I thought while staring at the hand which dropped the syringe; It was twitching.

I was in a weakened state. What was I doing… It all sounds plausible to go through with it until you realize they're just people too…

I pulled my face up from the floor and a outline of shimmering light caught my eye. It was in the outline of a person.

A draft swept through the room and wind sailed past my ear. "I- I wanted to be able to love you… but I couldn't"

 _Impossible… my… birth mother?_ I rubbed my eyes ferociously and when I opened them the apparition that I had seen was nowhere to be found.

I fell to my knees. The floodgates opened. A stream leaked from my face dripping onto the floor. _Dumb, stupid!_

It was like I was trying to cry a river and I just couldn't stop myself. I cried and cried. My knees were being cut by the glass shards on the ground but I just didn't care. I continued to weep uncontrollably.

It was official. I was a monster… There is no redemption, and I am already too deep… There was nothing that could be done.

 _Boo'd Up._

My hand clenched at my chest and my breaths fell out ragged. A tooth sunk into my lip splitting it and causing blood to spill down my chin in trickles.

I bent over clutching at my hair. I pulled and the pain helped drown out the misery. I looked down and strands of the ethereal white locks remained in my hands.

For some reason, I thought back to one of the first thing's Ayasha-san said to me after becoming my guardian. "Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely."

I shrieked and groaned. _Monsters don't get to have friends._

Something must have snapped in me. Suddenly, I was able to reign in my emotions and my lip curled into a jaded grin.

"This is all your fault Being-X!"

I slapped my face with as much strength as I could muster. The pulsating heat I felt afterward was a warm welcome. Anything to chase away those icy chills. _Slap! Slap! Slap!_

"Yeeeesss!" I cried in ecstasy. _More, more, I need more!_ I thought to myself

 _Slap! Slap_!

I was breathing hard… panting even — but I felt so much better... incredible actually.

It was time to get to work. I stood to my feet, smile widening.

"You will be my first. The first of many who has to die thanks to being nothing but a plaything to a divine being. We are all playthings… disposable. Become my strength, become my knowledge. You will live on forever! Be brave, you will be a step of my legacy!"

I grabbed a scalpel and split the chest cavity open, peeling back the skin. I had since long forgotten of the gloves that were but feet from me.

"Byakugan!"

…

* * *

The operation was a failure. The body died before I could preserve the soul, and no matter what I did I couldn't manage to keep the Chakra pathways stable. They kept breaking down regardless of all the methods I tried. Not only was preserving the soul an utter failure, but just the basic version of the human puppet was currently beyond me. _How?! How do I do it?!_

I sat in dark and silence for a while. I felt defeated. I had taken an extreme risk doing this, and the operation took much longer than expected. I wanted to slip back into the library, but now that I took so long and was a bit battered up that would no longer be an option.

" _How long had I even been gone?"_ I thought standing up to retrieve my bag. I whipped out the timepiece I kept inside and… It had been 30 hours. 30 hours since I came here… I felt weak and tired.

What was I going to do…

My weakened mind struggled for an answer, but instead there was silence.

I stood over to the lifeless kid poking at a cheek. "Your death will not be in vein. I will make something of it, I promise." I whispered under my breath.

-When it came to me… I had been abducted. Yes, somehow I was taken and snuck from the library. How would I make this believable?

I paused, resting a finger on my chin. Hmmmm…

-and it hit me.

…

* * *

After cleanup, I ran deeper into the forest beyond Konoha's walls, far from the sewer grate I had left from. I came across an ideal location that had a small pond. I Started shooting out bone fragments everywhere. I destroyed ground, knocked down and skewered trees. I jumped into the water and shot bone bullets out in every direction and I spun around. I made sure to spend a lot of time in the water so the smell of the sewers would get drowned out by the stagnant water.

I pulled myself out and flung myself into ferns, bushes, and leaves. I needed to look as tragic as possible while eliminating any odors that could give me away. I had a single chance to stage and play this off as a kidnapping, so there was no room for half-measures.

After being caked in green stains and mud, I began sprinting to Konoha's gates at top speed. I arrived within 40 minutes and my body had never felt more useless and battered in my entire life. I had no rest physically in two days, and I had long since exhausted my chakra.

I must have looked atrocious because the instant the gate's guards saw me they came running. I was asked several questions but I couldn't exactly make out their words. The pumping in my ears had nearly made me deaf to the outside world.

"I-I… Kidnapped… and I… escaped." I managed before falling limp. I was so dazed that I had surprised myself. I felt myself being scooped up in someone's arms but I didn't know which one. My conscious was slipping away and I couldn't hold on. mmmmhhhh...

…

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again,still trying to at least pump out a chapter a day. I've been posting these chapters the same day I wrote them, but like I said when I have a bit more content I'm going to be going back and editing/revising as much as I can at once. If anyone wants to assist me by being a beta reader that would be awesome and I could get a few chapters ahead so you can read it before it's released.

Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. SERIOUSLY! I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-**_ _ **CorruptedDrake -**_ _"Thanks for pointing out a flaw in my timeline. I'll have to adjust my future head canon, as well as go back and change those parts. Expect that to be done within the next few days."_


	16. Chapter 13

**Article 16 - Chapter 13 - In The Wake of Mistakes**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

…

 **(The Next Day. )**

…

A bright light fell blindingly on my face making me try to block it out with my hands. My arms felt heavy and sluggish and I heard a small gasp from beside me.

My eyes fought against illumination trying to dilate. Quickly my vision returned to me in full as I let out a yawn before noticing the relieved expression on the face of the woman beside my bed.

"Ayasha…" I whimpered. She leaned over and grasp my hand holding it in both of hers.

"Oh sweetie, I'm so glad you made it back… I don't know what I would have done if you were gone. —How do you feel?"

It was at this time I noticed another person in the room. The man that made occasional visits to our home, Tokuma Hyūga.

"I feel alright, not 100% but still pretty good." I insisted.

Ayasha pouted and pinched at my cheeks. "If I even hear you mention the thought of training I'll tickle you on your bruises."

It was less the actual threat than the sadness in her eyes.

I had let this angel worry sick over me, and somehow rationalizing it with _"she's got to learn to worry for a ninja"_ didn't help mitigate my guilt.

"Well kid, I've bet you've been through a lot?" The man asked concerned.

Ayasha shot a dark glare at him, likely for his choice of topic.

"Yeah…" I whispered thinking about what I had done. I took a life, probably an innocent, for nothing else but a failed experiment. His life cut short — for what? Experience.

I groaned internally.

"I'm sorry to have to bring this up, but I am supposed to take your statement on what happened." Tokuma said grimly, shooting pitying looks over to Ayasha.

"I understand, the more I can provide quickly, the better they can look for him."

I spun a tale about someone whispering to me at the hospital in an Anbu mask and then not remembering a portion of what happened.

"When I woke up I was tied and restrained with wire strings and the man was talking to another in an Anbu mask. I heard them say something about an organization that works underground, but I never heard them say the name of it. In fact when they talked about it the guy talking tensed up and looked like he was choking for a second before he regained his composure."

Tokuma's face drained of color as he wrote down my words.

"I waited for a better opportunity to break free… When one of the two sent out to scout or something, I broke out but they didn't seem to have the skills of a true Anbu member because I managed to still get away…"

Tears slipped down Ayasha's face as she listened to my fabricated story with a pained expression.

...

* * *

A tap sequence sounded from the ceiling tile alerting Hiruzen of his Anbu's return. He gruffly acknowledged it with a grunt and they slipped out, falling to the ground in front of the desk.

He stared into the glowing orb situated on top of the magenta silk pillow. The form of a small girl with ethereal white locks falling to her shoulders and the white washed eyes which were the staple of the Hyuga was in the midst of her personal training.

Something about this girl is offsetting, and unsteady feeling that he could not shake.

He briefly thought back to the first day he had spied on her, the day he put his anbu tracker on her. The way she slinked from location to location activating her byakugan recognizing that she had a tail. It was highly unusual. She seemed to have confirmed being followed, then she immediately went about her day, like she wanted her tracker to believe nothing had happened.

 _Would a girl this age act like this unless she had something to hide? What could it be?_

He was determined to get to the bottom of this, but with all of his spying he didn't seem any closer to his answer, that was until his return.

Hiruzen was invited to the chunin exams hosted by Kusagakure (Village hidden in the Grass) and had been away from his village for over four days. Upon his return he learned that the little girl he had reservations about had disappeared from the spy network of insects, and then many hours later was found at the village gates.

He rolled the flesh from the bridge of his nose in his hands while longingly glancing over to his pipe, but eventually turned away.

"Give me the full report."

"The target headed to the hospital as per usual in her routine, she entered the building so I surrounded the building with my insects, however her chakra signature suddenly vanished. By the time I scouted the hospital, she was nowhere to be found." The anbu reported slightly muffled from behind his mask.

"Yes, and what information did you attain from the battle site in the forest?" The elder asked while bringing his finger tips together.

"The only chakra presence in the forest remaining was hers, however, several of the projectiles were knocked off course and it's certainly possible that there was someone else there who had to guard against her barrage of projectiles. -Also, bloodied wire string was found, In her report she claimed to be restrained with wire string and we confirmed the blood on it was her own."

The kage chewed on those words for a moment. He scanned over the girl's testimony with hawk-like eyes.

He couldn't put it past Donzo to stage a kidnapping, but it was doubtful his agents could let her escape so easily...

Could she have staged this or was he being paranoid. Who was this girl? What would she have had to gain if she had pulled such a stunt?

Nothing was making sense. What was the motive behind this?

There was a traitor in his village. It seemed unlikely this traitor was someone who was solely interested in the Shikotsumyaku.

If they had planned this far, it would be unlikely the girl could slip her captives, but then again, she was a very bright talent and it was still very possible they could have misjudged her skills.

-Or she could have fled the village, staged a battlefield, and returned battered and worn to avoid suspicion… but if so why?

The Hokage's head began to ache slightly and drummed a finger on the desk.

Hiruzen groaned internally at this mess of a situation and again looked longingly at his pipe before turning his attention back to the Anbu.

"What is your opinion of her?" He finally asked.

"She is praised for her intelligence sir, and after following her for so long I can certainly agree. I doubt she staged this. I believe her capable of it, but the plot seemed a little too half-baked for something she could come up with herself. I would expect more from the only child to ever be declared a potential security risk before the age of 5." He said.

"Yes… I've had those same thoughts as well… Alright, your excused. You're also relieved from your post for the night, go get some rest."

Hiruzen pondered the possibility of Donzo's involvement. It was unlikely, but it certainly wasn't in the realm of the impossible.

…

* * *

A few days had passed since she returned to the village. The stinging defeat of the unsuccessful operation kept creeping into her mind.

I had taken a risk, a large risk at that, for very little payout.

She could still see the way the boys chakra network fought against preservation. The way he begged before she'd done it. The peace he experienced after it was over. It replayed in a loop through her mind.

What was I thinking? Why had I gone through with it?

She didn't like her own answer — I am becoming very impatient. I'm being blinded by my helplessness. I needed to do something to gain power and utility.

There was one jutsu I wanted to learn above all others at the moment. I knew a few people who had access to it, but it was unlikely any of them would train me.

My focus kept slipping away from my conditioning, so I decided to head back to the compound.

After arriving at the gates, I turned to head for the clan heads residence. Hiashi-sama seemed to have been waiting on me. As soon as he saw me, he slid whatever he had been looking at away from him and gave me his attention.

"I am very glad to see you out and about. I had heard you were discharged from the hospital… training again?" He asked in a concerned voice.

I blankly stared at him… Now that I had been 'kidnapped', he started treating me with more value, probably because he almost lost a strong asset for the clan.

I nodded, agreeing with his deduction.

"Never in all my years, or in any stories, had I heard of the Hyūga needing to intervene so that their students would train less… You will graduate in due time, remember that you can still enjoy the journey rather than obsessing over the destination."

This damn man. Was he growing a heart now of all times?

Perhaps if I slip a bit of truth to him I can exploit this hint of compassion to get what I want.

"I… I just…"

"Yes, out with it."

"I feel absolutely helpless. I train and I train and it seems the fruit of my labors are never enough. I want to become powerful so I don't have to fear abductors, I want to make my clan proud, but my hard work never feels like enough…" I said starting to tear up.

Wow, this performance was becoming something else entirely, my feelings had actually caused tears to swell in my eyes, How fortunate!

"You make me and the clan proud everyday. Your hard work is paying off, you are recognized for your talent by a great many in the village… and yet you are not content? You say you are helpless?" He asked earnestly.

My lip quivered as I nodded in affirmative to him.

"I can still do more…"

He let out a pained sigh before meeting my eyes again. "I have business outside the country coming up—"

"Where!?" I cut in without thinking.

He narrowed his eyes and continued "— and I will be unable to oversee your training for over a month. I'm now considering hiring a competent ninja to oversee your studies and training during the meantime."

My eyes were likely sparkling at his words, making Hiashi chuckle.

"Do you have any suggestions?" He asked before I nearly fell over in my chair. I couldn't contain my excitement as I pondered the question. I had a few in mind, but for the specific jutsu I wanted to be able to learn, only one name came to mind.

"Ebisu-san would be my ideal choice." I said.

He shot me a questioning glance before nodding. "He is indeed an elite trainer. I acknowledge him as one of my own choices. I will attempt to make arrangements."

"Thank you Hiashi-sama. Thank you." I said with real sincerity.

"Mmmmn, alright, that is all, take your leave."

"Yes Hiashi-Sama." I responded while turning around and heading to my home.

…

* * *

A hard nudge woke me from my sleep. I needed a few moments to gain my wits, composure, and scan my surroundings.

All the students in the class were headed out to lunch outside, and me and Neji would use this hour break we had to spar.

I had already eaten my food in class much to the annoyance of Watari-sensei. In the beginning he treated me more strictly than the other students. Calling on me to answer more problems and critical in my examinations, but had grown lax because of my work ethic and over-qualified abilities.

As I stepped outside, I overheard some kids sneering at a figure who was running laps around the track.

"That's the kid that said he'd practice twice as hard as anyone in class. Doesn't he know flunkee's are always flunkees?" A tubby kid I recognized as Gohan Kagetsu.

I ignored them and set out to the secluded area Neji and I had chose for ourselves a while back — Until I heard something concerning.

"Maybe we should toughen him up? Show him his limits?" A boy next to him whispered in cold indifference.

My legs stopped.

"Heh, I like the way you think Tatsuya-chan." The tubby boy responded with a smile of malice before leading the group away.

I focused on the figure in the distance to be certain of my assumption. It was indeed Rock Lee.

Neji looked back noticing that I had stopped and gave me a questioning glance.

"Uh, on second thought Neji, I've got something else I should probably take care of — next time!" I shouted before running off to the tree line.

Once there I activated my Byakugan and watched the group of three approach Lee. I crept closer focusing on the mouths of the kids to read their lips.

"Wow! You look like you've been working hard Lee-san!" One said obviously full of sarcasm - even if I couldn't quite hear them.

"Yeah! Maybe you'll get quick enough to run from all your fights Lee! My dad told me tactical retreats are important for a Shinobi." Gohan said.

"If the Hyuga's in our class are geniuses of combat, maybe you can still be the genius of retreating!" The other said.

"Yeah Lee. Maybe you should practice dodging too!" Tatsuya shouted picking up a rock.

The rock was flung into the air but barely missed the angered Lee who continued running around the track.

 _This is enough._ I thought to myself.

I leapt from my hiding spot and quickly ran towards the track.

"DOOOOOORRRK LEEEEEE, DOOOOORRRK LEEEEEE!" the kids chanted in tandem.

I reached down to the ground and picked up three clots of mud, taking one in my dominant hand. I wound up into a pitch, snapping my arm and releasing the mud ball out of hand, then again, and again. All of them arrived at their targets.

The clumps of mud impacted the shorts and pants of the kids and they turned in surprise. They looked at eachother and realized that a glob of mud was on each of their butts and they swiveled around looking for the perpetrator with anger in their eyes.

Finally locking their eyes on me, they looked a bit less confident looking to each other for encouragement.

"Are you Lee's cheerleaders? That's so cute!" I said.

Their looks of uncertainty shifted to scowels and started whispering to each other.

"You boys are so shy."

"Didj'ya throw this _'shit'_ at us?" Gohan asked Indicating to his backside.

"Hmm? You shit yourselves?" I asked innocently.

"What?!" He said spitting into the air. His brows pulled together while taking a step forward. "What did you say?" Gohan barked.

"I ASKED if you SHIT yourselves."

Gohan had a very annoyed grin and balled up his fists.

"—Don't, she's too strong." Tatsuya whispered—

"—Shut up fag, unlike you I have pride."

"It must be hard shitting yourself with all that pride."

"—Bitch!" He sneered, cocking an arm back.

It was over in an instant. I grabbed him by his neck and choke slammed him to the dirt. I glared over to his friends daring them to come at me before running off leaving Gohan to follow after them.

Rock Lee had been running over but stopped after witnessing me toss the big idiot. I looked over to him and smiled "Sorry about that. Some people are just dumb, stupid, idiots."

He looked like he had no idea what to say before finally jerking into laughter.

"You threw mud at their butts? That is truly funny!" Lee exclaimed. His mouth had pulled into such a big grin even while laughing that his eyes shut.

Something about the earnestness of Lee in this world is undoubtedly refreshing. It's hard to find people who will speak their mind freely.

"Hey lee… How much do you normally run?" I asked energetic.

"I run until I cannot. Then I continue training a different way until I cannot… You see, I am not as blessed as others with natural talent, so I must work at least twice as hard as everyone to make sure that I too become a splendid ninja!"

I smiled. It would seem lee worked hard even as a little kid, and still barely made the cut. Lee knows the unfairness of the world, and somehow still usually came out shining. Somehow that was all the more inspirational knowing.

"Lee-kun, mind if I run with you?"

"You want to … race me?" He asked questionably. "You are quite fast. I do not believe I can win yet."

"Okay, then let's just run together, like joint training. Come-on, You set the pace Lee!"

He flashed the cheesiest smile, even going so far as to give me a thumbs up afterward, before turning around and breaking into a brisk jog.

I know I wanted to stay out of this… but watching it just pisses me off too much. Lee's like a national park, he should never be polluted.

I was already told by Hiashi that there's likely nothing that could be done about Neji and I being paired together. I had thought about it before and it made sense, they would want to spread the byakugan around because of its power and utility.

-But perhaps if I make some social connections I can get an exception. If they wont let me and Neji team up, and I also don't get Lee, so help me god I will slit someones throat.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I had intended to fit more into this chapter and have it be longer, however I encountered a bit of writer's block and a lack of inspiration. It's going to be a few extra chapters to get to the Uchiha massacre than I originally thought. Bare with me :)

As psychotic as Mina is, I'm hoping that a bit of grounding from her Hero can do her good, but I'm not quite sure how Lee will impact her. I see them as becoming very good friends and rivals in the future. Personally, Lee's one of my favorite characters in the entire season and comparing many of the Shippuden's anime fights to original Gaara vs Lee, So much effort was put into making the fight so crispy and enjoyable (Even with much older technology and more crude art.)

Let me know how I'm doing, your predictions for the future, any plot holes you may think you see, and I'll gladly message you back addressing them. Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. SERIOUSLY! I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Roberto Pelotudo**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-Azaira**_

 _ **-Killua Meatrider**_


	17. Chapter 14

**Article 17 - Chapter 14 - Never Underestimate Visual Prowess**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **...**_

It's almost time. So close it felt tangible, yet hours separated my reality and fantasies.

To say that I was restless was an understatement. Thoughts whirred through my mind in a flurry. Each idea was like a snowflake that was whipped about in a blizzard.

Versatility is an ultimate weapon - If you can conform to any set of parameters so that each situation that arises can be handled in a unique dedicated manner. For every unstoppable force, there is an equally unmovable object, it is a constant equilibrium that appears to exist in both worlds.

If there is a being that holds the power of the divine, one that claims itself to be a god, then it is equally likely that there either is or can be an entity to cancel out or destroy that entity.

If I had to team up with such an existence, or become that existence, either possibility would be acceptable.

" _You hear that Being-X? You'd better not remain complacent or I will rip your job from you. An existence such as yourself hardly deserves it.."_ I thought with my libs curling into a dastardly grin. "...Heehehuehaha~" I improperly let out. The maniacal laughter slipping out for only a moment before reining in my control and discontinuing the improper actions.

Numerous baby steps can eventually transition to giant strides. My short term goal was but one single baby step, but it would open an entire new world of possibilities. The "Shadow clone Jutsu." (or - Kage Bunshin no Jutsu)

Extra physical bodies nearly indistinguishable from the user, who had memory retention upon merging the clones essence back with oneself, usually from being dispelled or destroyed.

They contain consciousness. They act independently but can work towards single-minded goals, and I can still trust them completely. It was like I could create my own friends as jaded and calculating as me. An army of myself.

My hope and morale were sitting at a ridiculously high state. A state I might add, which certainly couldn't be maintained long, but thats what makes it all the more intoxicating.

To yearn for what one can not have. It is a basic human condition that is likely an evolutionary imperative. One that helps us strive for more than what we currently are, and is likely an instinct that keeps humanity from plateauing over the innumerable generations we've spanned.

I wish I knew exactly what Hiashi said to Ebisu so I would know how best to bait him into using shadow clones in front of my Byakugan. It should make sense that I can reverse engineer how the chakra needs to form and emulate the release. The sharingan can steal a jutsu, but the Byakugan can analyze a jutsu.

The clarity and vast amount of visual information it gives you access to is truly a blessing of epic proportions. As someone who heavily struggled with vision in my past life, it's definitely something I can truly appreciate. The Hyuga attitude and strict practices are the only thing that truly subtract from them. Because of the Byakugan and how much visual information we have access too, it's said our brains develop faster and stronger because of the extra workload.

Perhaps I will never need a man or a woman. I think I'm in love with Dojutsu.

I sat in meditation, eye's closed, sweeping everything out of mind, and putting in earplugs. The most in-tune with myself is when I deprive myself from as many senses as possible. All that's left is to feel. Feel the flow the chakra takes through the system. I have been paying particular attention to correct chakra imbalances and achieve equilibrium. Lately my proficiency is finally becoming more elite. The Chakra hypersensitivity affliction I was crippled with, the one that caused everyone to say I wouldn't be a shinobi, had been turned around to be my strength through hard work and dedication. Now I had control and extra sensory perception similar to the sensation of feel paired with visual color. I can distinctly distinguish one person from another simply from the feeling from their chakra.

A always liked changing up what I'm doing so that it doesn't get stale. The principal of muscle confusion to promote growth through stimulation and always keep you guessing, can also be applied to the way you cognitively learn things. Constantly attacking problems from different angles.

My concentration was broken by something soft pelting my face, some sort of fabric.

I shoved it aside much to my surprise to see a figure in front of me. I haven't felt any presence at all… and even as I probe...nothing?

A still youthful man stood before me with a bandanna mounting his Hitai-ate. His sunglasses were charcoal black, and blocking out the setting sun.

I quickly fumbled with my ear plugs and shot him an annoyed expression.

"I hear I am to turn you into an Elite." He said.

There was something about him that exuded this cocky aura… what have you 'got' to be that cocky about? Teaching skills I admit is something that someone could take pride in, but that cocky attitude just made me want to make him squirm. You are in your special-Jōnin position not of power, but of prestige, and prestige alone isn't worthy of my respect.

"Hiashi-sama is under some delusion believing you were the best for the job." I stated with indifference.

His jaw set together tighter and lips curved into a frown then said "Hiashi-sama is wise. I am a special-Jōnin that specializes in teaching only the highest of value pupils, You are lucky to have me."

"I don't knoooow… How do I know you're good enough? After all, I am the 'prodigy of prodigies', Your teaching career would certainly be cemented in history if I become your pupil. What makes you good enough?"

His demeanor of calm and collected quickly slipped. It was quite apparent he wasn't ready or expecting what he heard. He quickly regathered his composure, then said "I have extensive knowledge of basic to advanced ninja skills. My success rate with prodigies and slackers alike is unprecedented. Make no mistake, you are lucky to have me."

Come on girl, hold back the smile, don't let him know you've cornered him.

"Advanced Ninja techniques? Like what? I bet you can't even do the shadow clone jutsu, a mere B rank." I poked.

 _Yes, Yes, cave, I know your weak ass pride would love to inflate by showing off in front of me._

"The Shadow clone jutsu is dangerous-"

"-I knew it! Just a few steps beyond your capabilities, huh old man?" _Come on, this bait is nice and juicy, it's waiting for you, just come out and reach for it._

"OLD? I'll have you know I'm only 22 and It is well within my capabilities!" He stammered.

YES YES YES!

 _-Byakugan!-_

His arms were coming together into the classic clone seal I remember, his chakra pulsated and swirled beautifully in his core. The fluidity and consistency left me a little awed until it shot out in every direction and then a copy of himself, chakra network and all, appeared beside him.

"See? I bet you feel pretty silly now, don't you?" He said with a snicker.

I equipped the best mask of surprise in my arsonal pairing it with a small gasp. I looked over to him practically shining. It was evident he was loving having established himself as the APEX.

"Well… It appears Hiashi-sama might have picked the right Sensei for me after all."

Memorize, Memorize. Visualize that flow, the way the release exploded outward. No wonder Naruto could do this jutsu so easily, it was a bruteforce jutsu that relied on a quick release. He could topload the jutsu with so much chakra it would certainly meet the requirements even if the speed of release wasn't right.

It made so much sense now having this visual que, I couldn't wait to start practicing with it. Thank you Ebisu-sensei, I'm glad I didn't under-evaluate your usefulness. I wonder if I could convince him to start developing my chakra nature transformation… Maybe another time, I must imprint what I just saw into my head… Remember…

Ebisu-san started spouting of on the theoretics behind chakra and while that was all fine and good, and normally I would have been very engauged, I was a bit preoccupied focusing on visualization of me performing and succeeding the Shadow Clone jutsu. He didn't seem to notice as he was quite the talker and all I had to do was smile, nod, and make small verbal interjections to steer him in an endless cycle. Our time came to an end and he took his leave.

I quickly made my way out to a private training ground that was hardly used because of its small size and limited equipment. I recalled the image of how he cultivated the chakra and expelled it. I tried to mirror it perfectly, but Ebisu's mastery was a bit unnerving. Ebisu's technical skill was actually exceptional, but his chakra reserves are a bit lacking.

Lucky I've always had more spiritual energy in my body than physical since before I could ever remember. The shadow clone jutsu was very spiritual energy dense, perhaps as much a 6 to 1, or 7 to 1. It was a jutsu that just seemed to be even more perfect for myself than I expected.

I looked over, and I had managed a clone of myself. The visuals were a bit off, and one arm was considerably longer than the other. It actually kind of looked like an abomination, but it was progress over having nothing before.

I dispelled the clone, and the rush of chakra flushing my system burned hot like a fire before quickly disappearing.

I felt completely disoriented and my balanced was completely lost. My Byakugan cut off and I fell to the ground with a headache.

 _What the hell? What's happening to me?_

I leaned over clutching my stomach and the core of my being, like where we mix energies to produce our chakra, and suddenly I found myself gagging.

I regurgitated my dinner onto the grass and felt awful, but as quickly as the symptoms arrived, they disappeared.

That was terrible… No wonder this technique's next level is forbidden. It seems debilitating if performed incorrectly or with inexperience. I would need to acclimate myself to this jutsu and make it my own.

...

* * *

"Class!" Watari-sensei yelled before striking a ruler on his desk. _SNAAAP._ "We have a new transfer to our class today and I want you to make him feel welcome."

" _Wonderful… more fodder to-"_ I thought before snapping my body up from disbelief.

A boy I recognized walked into the class confidently before scanning the class quickly. _"What had I done?"_ I groaned internally… This isn't how it's supposed to work out.

"Hn… My name is Sasuke Uchiha," the boy said, a confident grin plastered on his face.

 _Oh, this is gonna fuck up everything…_

Sasuke ended up sitting as far away from me as he could, but half the class he just kept meeting my gaze with challenging looks. The eyes of someone who thinks they have grown. What am I to him? Just some personal measuring stick? Had he advanced because in this timeline he was simply better than in the last… or did he chase me up to this class?

I couldn't figure out the answer. Even this Uchiha, so young, was a chore to read. I can only imagine the hell to come when he gets older...

-Unless… perhaps I can make this work for my advantage? Sasuke will likely become 2nd in the class for boys under Neji, So it could be Lee, Sasuke, and myself. It was certainly a strong team, and If I could gain his loyalty he could be a valuable asset, be damned of his disposition.

" _Persuasion is ideal when the person or people are mentally defenseless"_ … I could kiss the demonic genius who proposed this.

" _-And when do I know Sasuke will be mentally defenseless?"_ A grin making its way on my face. " _If I go one step further, and plants seeds before that in wait, and use them as additional leverage...then the chance of success and effectiveness will likely drastically skyrocket."_

It was settled, I would get him in my clutches. I'll make him need me, make him feel like he can trust no one else… Yes, it will be perfect. "Heheheh" I let out in a faint, muffled laugh catching Neji's attention before he turned back to Watari-sensei.

...

* * *

Rain fell from the sky crashing in sheets to the ground. A mist enveloped the area of the Great Gale Gazebo. Pockets of humid air shot in different directions at the will of the funnel. With all my focus I repeated my attempt of the jutsu, this time with all the experience of my errors and arguably a better concept behind the whole idea.

Chakra surged out in each direction with extra speed than I had been capable until now. A clone materialized beside me, a very accurate representation if I say so myself. Darkened bags hug underneath the eyes of the clone, and after seeing my reflection off some glass, I noticed that I needed to get more sleep.

Where my dreams had once been haunted by tragedy and death, I now rarely had dreams, instead slipping away into nothingness, just to wake after recuperation.

I stared, smiling at the figure of my clone, the clone smiling back.

"Why would I need to put my faith into a metaphysical construct when I myself am so competent?" I said with a giggle.

"Only the weak and incapable cling to some phantasmal 'miracle' maker." my cone relied.

 ***mmmhn, mmmmhn*** ...hmm? what was that?

A puppy soaked from the rain scurried around outside the gazebo whimpering. It was a pitiful little thing. It trotted up the stairs and arrived inside, behind pushed over from the gusts of air. It was sliding forwards, knocked sideways, slid back, It was comical watching it like a ragdoll.

It let out a few yelps of frustration, and at this point it was succeeding at being sufficiently adorable whether It meant to or not.

I pushed myself off the ground walking towards it when suddenly it stopped.

-I stopped - The rain stopped. Everything went still and silent. The puppy's head tilted sideways giving me a questionable glance.

"-Be-ING-X!?" I exclaimed in fury.

"You still have not grown a trace of faith." It said through its nose.

Unsettling… that's just not normal…

"Here to tell me to pray 3 times a day? -Maybe kiss a crucifix in distress?" I taunted.

"... this is a serious problem."

"The problem is forcing ideologies on unwilling people. You are like a Jehovah witness that indoctrinates through pestering the unsuspecting."

"Your attitude is as unacceptable as ever… Why will you not praise the creator? -Long ago, just speaking to humans was sufficient to make them worship."

"You want me to recognize you and be thankful for your sloppy craftsmanship? -I think not." I replied dryly.

"... Perhaps I should give you a blessing."

"A blessing?" I asked. This so called 'creator' doesn't understand me at all. I'm long past the need for any of its sympathies or mercy. Just another way to loid over us mere mortals. I won't have it.

"Indeed - A miracle." The entity continued.

"What? Like A virgin conception? Perhaps you'll help me walk on water?" I said sarcastically. "No thanks, Miracles are nothing but glorious misunderstandings."

I had found myself able to move, and the dog's eyes were still black as the abyss I was once held in ... Being-X will feel my wrath!

I unleashed a kick causing the dog to yelp in pain until landing on a shrub. I was breathing heavy… and the rain had continued…

The dog whimpered cries of pain and despair… and I noticed a child staring at me with their jaw hung wide open… oh no… I kicked one of the main branches children's dog. I had fell for his taunts… damn you Being-X!

The child started to cry and run over to the dog. she flashed me pained looks as she tenderly checked on the dog. This was unpleasant… I was sure I would pay for this.

…

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, As an author, I'd like to personally apologize for the MC's actions. Puppies are national treasures, and no puppies were hurt in the actual writing process. I promise.

Let me know how I'm doing, your predictions for the future, any plot holes you may think you see, and I'll gladly message you back addressing them. Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. SERIOUSLY! I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-**_ _ **jsrd**_

 _ **-**_ _ **EVERYthingGOES88**_

 _ **-Killua Meatrider**_


	18. Chapter 15

**Article 18 - Chapter 15 - Complexity of the Heart**

* * *

 _ **.**_

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **...**_

* * *

.

Ayasha was dancing around the house happily by the time I found myself downstairs. It was apparent that the news of my animal abuse hadn't made its way back to her yet… I could only imagine her cheerful mood being erased thanks to myself. That's the opposite of what I wanted, I was a terrible person.

"Morning Mina-chan! Would you like something to eat? I'll make anything you want so just say the words!"

I felt guilt rise like bile in the back of my throat… I couldn't possibly ask that of her.

"Ayasha-san… I want to have your favorite dish, with all ingredients included."

I spotted the surprise in her eye but her grin only got wider. She curiously cocked her head sideways causing her hair to slide past her eyes over to the other side.

"My taste is starting to grow on you huh? I knew it!" She said punching a fist into the air.

Ayasha was one of those people that were normally cheerful, but she usually didn't telegraph it so clearly. I wonder why she was in such high spirits.

When I noticed - A new band adorned her ring finger. I found myself gasp loudly unable to hold it back and she spun back around prancing up to me.

She stuck out her chest and held out her hand proudly showing off her new accessory. It was a gold band etched with ornamental silver. A pang of warmth swept over me like a wave from the ocean in the dead of summer. It looks like the guy had finally grown some balls.

There would be someone else who could shower her in the affection she deserved.

"Con-Congratulations! - It's about time." I exclaimed.

She kept flashing me the same cheeky smile before she finally spoke up again. "Heh!"

She stared into my face for a moment before dropping to a knee. She tried to adopt a neutral expression but her grin was still slipping through. "Soooo, what do you think of Tokuma-san? Hmmm, hmmm?"

She traced a finger down my chest until attacking me with tickles. I couldn't prevent myself from laughing and it was starting to piss me off. I slapped her hand away quickly taking a step back to catch my breath.

"I like him. I feel like he has excellent character."

It was odd hearing those words coming out of my mouth. What gives me the ability to judge anyone's character?

A girlish giggle escaped from the woman before me. "That reminds me of something my father would have said. Sometimes I feel like you're more him than you have any right to be, a lady of your age."

"Perhaps I'm just an old soul." It came out more like a joke, but it had more truth than most of the things I found myself saying lately.

She laughed before returning to her place in the kitchen preparing our meal. I could see the dedication going into the food. She was pulling out all the stops, going all out.

When she finished, we sat down and I split the omlette to find that it had been loaded with ramen and an assortment of additives. She was always an odd one.

After the meal, I quickly scrambled to grab my belongings to head out for training. I flung the door open, but before I could dart outside I heard her energetic voice call out from behind me. "I LOOOOVE YOU!"

I turned around to see her arms extended expecting a hug and I gave her a half grin and waved bye. "Cya later!" I spit out before slipping out the door.

…

* * *

...

I walked into class early, to my surprise to find a sparse few students already in their seats. I eyed a certain studious Uchiha boy engrossed in the text sprawled out before him. I made my way over to his desk nonchalantly, and leaned over him - A palm on the desk.

He casually looked up, not changing his blank expression. "Hn?"

"What your just going to oogle me from the other side of the room and never talk to me?"

 _Less is more here. I need him to start talking._

His ears flushed pink and it started spreading to his cheeks before he let out a small cough, fighting it back.

"You are mistaken, I am only letting you know I'm aiming for your spot of first in class."

The way he managed to remain blank as he said the whole thing let me know I was going to need to strike a little harder.

"Pshhht, You've got that whole aloof thing down don't you? I bet that works wonders on your fangirls… But that's not the way to my heart."

His mouth dropped open slightly and hung for a moment. "Wha- What are you talking about, that was not even close to my intention."

He talks pretty well for being 7 or 8 as a non-Hyuga. The Uchiha breed superiority I suppose. Guess that means speech too which of course isn't surprising.

I swung my legs over the desk and plopped down into the chair beside him. "So you only want to be number one and nothing else? How vein." I said attempting to put on my mask of boredom.

"W-well I…" He stammered confused before it seemed like something clicked inside of him. "We are of rival clans, what did you expect?"

Hmm… I mulled over that while evaluating his expression. I'd never seen the Uchiha look as unnerved from my stare before.

"So what? Your family picks your friends?"

"-No, certainly I don't have to spell out… that the Uchiha and Hyuga don't get along. It's a recipe for disaster even if - I want it."

"Heh, so you can be honest sometime's, can't you now?"

"Hn."

I waited a moment before finally giving him what he wanted. "Fine, we can be friends. It will be a fine challenge, and besides, now that you chased me up to this class we're likely to land on the same team."

A quick grin flashed on his face before killing it and staring back to me with the classic Uchiha deadpanned expression.

"I suppose joint training would be educational - If we are allowed."

"There you go again, Don't you know it's easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission?" I asked.

"... You are not at all how I expected." he huffed.

"-If you say it like that, it almost sounds like you think that's a bad thing." I said moving my hands to hips still seated. I made a pouting face hoping to get some kind of reaction.

"I can already see you getting me into trouble… but I suppose that would be an acceptable price."

"So you do have a mushy side under that aloof mask of yours." I grinned.

"Hn."

I ended up sitting next to Sasuke, and when Neji arrived he shot me a betrayed look. I cheekily grinned at him as he made his way to the back where we usually sit. The lesson started so I cracked open the textbook I had borrowed from the hospital library.

"What are you reading?" the Uchiha asked curiously.

I stuck a hand in the book and closed it, showing the cover.

 _ **The Human Body: The Circulatory System**_

He looked questionably at me, to which I responded confidently with: "It's Interesting Stuff."

"You're _definitely_ not at all how I expected." He repeated.

…

* * *

...

"Why are you... arg-running with... me again?" Lee panted out.

My fitness was vastly superior to his at this time, which actually peeved him a bit. He tried to speed up sometimes even when I knew he was tired, I guess it was just one of those pride things.

"How can I let - my rival outwork me?" I let out. grinning.

He seemed to practically shine at my words. Sweat was pouring down his neck as he started trying to increase the pace again. "You see me as a rival? -You mean it? -Really?"

"Of-course. These other idiots might not - recognize your hard work, but your…" my face was already flushed thanks to running but I felt it get even hotter before I finished with "Actually pretty inspiring Lee. You make me want to work hard too."

Even grunting and as dead as he looked from the run, he flashed me a smile and gave me a thumbs up again. "I will now not only be a splendid ninja, but a splendid rival as well!"

I was managing to barely break my breathing technique, only huffing for air occasionally when my long breaths through my nose couldn't suck in enough air. Lunch was coming to an end and I knew we were going to have to come inside soon, but a teacher ran over to us in a hurry.

"Hyuga-san, Can you please come with me?" He asked.

Well this was certainly out of the ordinary. I nodded and followed behind him as he power walked back inside and to the front office. Hiashi's 2nd hand man was standing impatiently tapping his foot, he didn't seem happy at all.

"Here she is."

"What's going on?" I asked. He avoided looking me in my eyes and instead silently held out a hand. Things were just getting more and more confusing…

I took his hand against my better judgement, letting him lead me down streets through the village until arriving back to the compound. There was a group huddled at the gate, and they remained hushed as we passed by, giving me looks of pity.

Ha, seems like they understand the insufferable nature of the man pulling me along.

We finally arrived at the main families coordination hall, and he pulled me inside.

"Can you tell me anything or are you just gonna keep pulling me along?"

He wouldn't meet my gaze and grunted before pulling the door to the audience chamber and several of the clan were inside. As the door opened I saw several with unhappy or angered expressions… and my heart dropped.

A familiar silhouette leaned against the wall, slumped in tears.

A wood box was placed on top of a table…

 _Boo'd Up - Boo'd Up._

My hand was released… and I looked uncertainly around the room. The familiar man in tears was Tokuma-san.

 _Noo… no, no… no._

 _Boo'd Up - Boo'd Up - Boo'd Up_

I ran part way over to the box… my pace slowing as I neared. I was afraid to look inside. The last few feet were the hardest… I had to inch over to look in the box.

" _It...can't be."_ I thought.

It was. The woman who lovingly called herself my mother. Her complexion paled and hair erratic.

My strings were cut. I fell to my knees. No! How could this have happened? Why her… why couldn't it be anyone else?

I couldn't control myself… My whole body shivered. Snot ran out my nose, and the familiar blight filled my eyes refracting the clear image. Dropplets spilled to the floor as I gasped through my emotion.

I was stupid. An Idiot. To think that walling her off would protect her - or anyone. Instead I only lost the opportunity to make precious memories with her… _Stupid, stupid_!

I was making a scene which was all the more upsetting. I pulled myself to my feet and fought my way to the exit with my vision distorted. I pulled my sleeves and buried my face in it so no one would see my unsightly breakdown.

I had underestimated the value behind a single life.

I ran, and ran, and when I was sufficiently far enough I just kept running. As soon as I stopped I knew reality would catch up to me, which was the last thing I wanted. I wanted escape. I was to weak to face anything. Why had I thought I could manage all alone?

I'm losing everyone one by one. I'm back to completely alone... I'm so alone. This is what I was trying to write up by design. To be separate, to not belong…

My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. I started coughing erratically and I couldn't hold up running anymore. I fell back to the ground beating my fists against it ferociously.

WHY!? I HADN'T EVEN TOLD HER I LOVED HER BEFORE I LEFT… It-It wouldn't have even been a lie… damnit...

My tunnel vision and single minded pursuit had caused so many sacrifices that… well I knew I was making them I guess… but I didn't realize… damnit! DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT!.

Now that she's not here… even the air doesn't taste the same… Everything was coming apart. I stuck myself together so carefully and now - Everything was slowly unraveling.

I was incomplete. I deserve to be incomplete, I am a monster after all… but it hurts, I don't think I can do it anymore…

 _"I won't let anything happen to you..."_ her words replayed through my mind.

"Too busy worrying about me to worry about yourself!" I shrieked out, still sobbing

 _-Why had I been so upset when she said that... I should have appreciated her… while I had her..._

I felt dead inside... I didn't want... I didn't want to manipulate, I didn't want to train, I had skipped lunch, but I didn't want to eat… I wasn't hungry. I hungered for nothing… If I wanted for anything - I just wanted her back.

She was better than I deserved…

 _"Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely."_

I thought of the only person a monster like me could be friends with…

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." I cried weakly.

A clone appeared beside me also on the ground. I flipped over onto my back.

"Strangle me… Choke me until you vanish." I demanded.

It looked just as broken as me… tears streaming from its eyes… reaching both arms out to me as it scooted closer. The clone's hands reached my neck and squeezed. My airway was clamped shut and the blood pounded in the side of my head.

My arms unconsciously flailed about and hands grasped onto what I could only assume was the wrists of the clone.

"Kerp-urg-ha-" I struggled.

The light was fading. I was retreating back into the void I came from. It welcomed me back like I had never left.

…

* * *

...

It was warm… My whole body felt like it was being drowned in the summer sun. I was safe and secure. I cracked my eye open and I noticed the warm body I was curled up beside. I was wrapped in blankets and I didn't want to move at all. The figure noticed my waking and it affectionately wrapped its arms around me.

"I love you Ayasha… I love you! Ya' know?"

I squeezed her back… but she burst to dust before my eyes.

Horrified, I leapt to my feet. Clouds rolled past the sun causing the room to darken.

"mh-Ma-MOSTERRRR!" a young voice screamed and echoed through the house.

A young boy I recognized stumbled down the stairs naked, his chest sliced open but taped shut.

He fell to the ground and burst to dust…

The door opened behind me, I turned swiftly to see… the hair as black as midnight… the whitewashed eyes… my birth mother. She had a large gash across her throat that had scabbed over. Both hands folded behind her back.

She took feint steps forward, eye's locked with my own.

"I- I wanted to be able to love you… but I couldn't"

She took her hands out from behind her… holding a puppy by the throat. She released the neck and it dropped through the air. She took a stance like she planned to punt the damn thing and as her foot made contact both poofed into dust.

A child crawled out from the blanket I had been wrapped in with their eyes wide in horror. They began crying an ran for the door.

"Wait!" I screamed. "Wai-"

And everything around me crumbled to dust. The only thing that was left, was the dust falling downwards through the black void. The black void that had once been my home.

...

* * *

I nodded back awake in the arms of an anbu member carrying me princess style in the lobby of the hospital. I struggled trying to free myself from his grasp but it was far too firm. "Put me down." I rasped.

My throat was tight and sore.

I flailed my legs and gave him a look that said _"I'm not afraid to make a scene."_

"I'm fine, put me down this instant!" I barked.

The head shifted towards me. "I believe you are too great of a danger to yourself at the moment."

If he could say something like that than he must have saw the whole thing. This is probably the spy that's been stuck on me for over a year. The bastard.

"You're the dog that follows me! - Bad dog, let me go!" I said slapping his mask.

My eyes started leaking tears again and I wanted anything to be here - to be the spectacle of everyone here.

-And to add to my problems, the dog saw my shadow clones before I could get a good use of them… Why am I even thinking about that…

I was taken to a room and my hands were restrained apart to a bed. The anbu sat silently beside me for a long while without saying anything. I didn't want to talk and used the opportunity to reflect.

I recalled the dream that I had had… I was dead inside, as black as the void that had once contained me.

" _You deserve nothing." I heard in my head._

Being-X's favorite quote he seemed to love reminding me… You know, now… He doesn't seem wrong…

As if thinking that was a trigger, the door swung open. A blond haired ninja walked in closing the door behind him. His hair was long, pulled back into a ponytail.

The anbu at my side sat more alert and acknowledged our visitor.

"Yamanaka-san." he said.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, This is actually not how I envisioned this chapter shaping up at all. Part way through it seemed to take on a life of its own. I had this whole scene planned out with Neji I wanted to write, but I never got to it because of the chain of events. To writing where the characters take us...

Let me know how I'm doing, your predictions for the future, any plot holes you may think you see, and I'll gladly message you back addressing them. Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. SERIOUSLY! I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **pigs103 -** Sorry to hear that. Mina's perspective does begin to shift over time, but she can never truly escape from the terrible thing's she's both done in the past, and a few things that are still yet to come. I have to have her sink to the depths of despair before she can search for the road of redemption._

 _ **-Roberto Pelotudo -** Sorry that you think the MC is selectively choosing to be as cruel and idiotic as possible, personally, I believe her plans to be erratic and desperate, but you don't know all of her plans or knowledge, so your missing crucial information to make your deduction. Hope you stick around long enough to make a more informed judgement :)_

 _ **-Irina Akashira -** Thanks for sticking around, Means a lot to still have your support. I've been thinking about some of the things you've said to try to see if I felt I could improve anything in the story. -And as far as the miracle 'Being-X' references... yes it is a power, however I can neither confirm or deny what it will be yet :) -stay tuned._

 _ **-Killua Meatrider -** Thanks for sticking around since nearly the beginning too. Certainly if the clan's children made their own bingo book, that would be her Monikor lel._


	19. Interlude 3

**Article 19 - Interlude 3**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Found myself really struggling on this chapter. My shit vision was acting up alot (lately), but I powered through it so I hope everyone enjoys. This content was requested by "Killua Meatrider" and it seemed like a reasonable thing to write, so here we are.**_

* * *

 _ **...**_

The woman quietly wiped down the interior workstation with disinfectant. A sterile environment is one of the many refinements the great Tsunade decreed to medical doctrine. She hummed a playful tune while she whisked a damp cloth across the surface area of high physical contact environments after having the ill man leave that she diagnosed some half hour earlier.

A firm knock sounded against the hardwood door causing her to jolt to attention. "Who is it?" She called.

The woman was of average height and sported the classic whitewashed eyes proclaiming her as a Hyuga. A chain dangled at her neck with the set piece being a polished sapphire more wholesomely blue than the untainted azure sky. Seeing this, she quickly reached for it, tucking it back underneath her uniform.

"Tokuma Hyuga"a voice called out from behind the door.

The woman's heart fluttered in her chest. _"He was here? Did he not know that there is work to be done or is he simply thinking with the wrong head again?"_

She quickly paced about fidgeting her hair in place and smoothing out the creases in her clothing. She was a woman damnit, she would be presentable. She quickly fainted cabinets opened and closed to excuse her for not instantly allowing the man inside as she gained her witts while working on her presentation.

Finally satisfied, she slid over to the door and flung it open.

"What is the pleasure?" The question was posed playfully, one devoid of her standard professionalism she reserves for the rest.

At first she recognized the man she had expected, but quickly and to the woman's surprise, she spotted a small child seated in the chair behind him.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at Mina-kun's injury if you had time."

The woman's eyes fell on the child again, and she began to walk over.

The little sapling was small and vulnerable, yet remained stoic in the face of whatever debilitation she had. Looks like she's fighting for our approval… I'll make a show of faith coming down to her level.

-Bending down in front of the kid so their eyes were level, the elder woman gave an practiced, polite smile.

"Where does it hurt little one?"

"I… might have sprained my ankle while running." the child spoke.

 _Odd, most children would simply point to where they felt pain._

She looked the small girl over once more, finally pointing to both legs as if asking 'which one?'

The white haired girl lifted her right leg to indicate which one was injured.

The medic nin made a hand seal before activating her Byakugan.

"Tsk-Tsk," she said, turning her head to meet the familiar gaze of Tokuma. "Tear of the interior peroneal tendon," Informing the adult before turning back to the small body, ready to console and praise the girl. "It must hurt a lot. You are strong not to be crying."

"Can you please speak to me like I'm not incompetent." The girl snapped before little hands flew up covering her mouth.

 _Wha?_

The girls head immediately dropped to the floor before adding. "-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

The full grown woman's lofty attitude over the child had been blown away with the cognitive ability and verbal challenge of the child. She briefly shot Tokuma a look of disbelief to which he shrugged, before turning her attention back on the girl again.

"You must feel belittled by adults, but I'm sure many do it because you look so precious."

A blush found its way onto the child's face before it disappeared as quickly as it arrived. The woman noted how more adorable the child seemed now that she witnessed the sour and sweet displays. She had far too much development and maturity for one so young, but it seemed even the innocents of youth is unparalleled.

"Mhm… Thank you… what is your name?" the child asked.

"Ayasha." The woman replied, this time with a smile born of joy and compassion.

"Thank you Ayasha-san."

...

* * *

.

Some nights later, she was situated on top of the lap of her lover. Both seemed lost in eachothers eyes and were short with their words. The man's face was flushed as his hands explored over Ayasha's skin causing her lips to tremor with bated breaths.

She leaned in and rested her chin on the welcoming shoulder of this man. Warmth poured out of her nose into his neck causing the hairs on his neck to rise. Despite the moment she found herself in thought of the small girl from some days ago who was already putting on a face of bravery to appease the adults around her.

If she was doing that already, when would anyone give her the opportunity to be the child. It's our duty as the elders to take responsibility to nurture and shelter the young. Those cold, empty eyes kept flashing back to her in glimpses - not able to hide the _inexcusable_ absence of adolescence. She had been forced to grow up entirely too fast.

"Tokuma-" She whispered into his ear.

A firm hand snaked down her back onto her waist and he pulled her closer, allowing him access to her ear.

"Yeah, what's going on in that head of yours?" The line was fed soft and delicate into her ear.

"I can't help but worry for Mina-chan… Her mother is the worst and the entire clan knows it."

Tokuma's hands rose to her shoulders and pulled her back to establish eye contact again.

"You are worried about her? The same woman who scoffs at the idea of having children and retirement?" He teased playfully.

The succulent lips of the beauty pressed together into a frown but remained silent.

"I don't know… Seeing her reminded me how important being a parent can be. Surely many are unsuited for the task."

A look of true shock arrived on the man's face much to the disapproval of Ayasha. She hit and squeezed at his chest trying to release a bit of the frustration that suddenly flooded over her. The man looked uncomfortable yet still laughed, taking the brunt of her assault.

"If you wanted to be a mother you could always just come clean~" He teased while playing with her hair.

The look projected at him could instil fear into the hearts of hardened warriors, his body briefly seizing as he cursed the woman's emotions that seemed to change like the wind.

…

* * *

"W-w-w-what?" Ayasha stammered in disbelief.

"Yoruichi Hyuga has taken her own life - and infront of her own child no less. We all knew she wasn't right, but who could have known she was capable of this…" The chatty gossip relayed in a informative and condescending tone.

The child had been subject to even greater struggles. Wasn't there a god that existed which watched over his children? Why did it have to be her, the young girl who had no right being subjected to the tragedy of the world yet. Someone needed to stand and be a shining beacon to show the child the radiance of what life offers.

She steeled in herself the resolve to help this child if it were at all within her power. To protect the ideal of innocence in the clans youth, to remind them that their not alone, and to give them hope for the future.

…

* * *

The days melded by into a week. Ayasha had been visiting the little girl constantly under the guise of psychological assistance and evaluation, but there was a compulsion, a deeply ingrained desire to see the child overcome the overbearing depression that hung over the girl's head like dreary storm clouds.

"You look pale, have you been getting enough sleep?" she would ask.

 _The child's body was being worn from the stress and lack of recovery she was experiencing. No doubt deprived of sleep_ \- she deduced.

-But the child lies, nodding her head to indicate that she were sleeping plenty.

 _A blatant lie. Why must you spend all your effort putting up that front. What makes you think you need to be that strong?_ The grown woman wondered. The groggy reactions of the girl spoke volumes of her current state.

It pained Ayasha to have to watch this. That this girl felt like she didn't have a right to grieve. That she just charged recklessly along with no abandon for consequences. Mina's display of self-sacrifice was unnerving and her performance was fairly good for how young she was. It disturbed her deeply to think in a few years she might be good enough that no one might tell there were any underlying problems.

"The bags under your eyes missy tells a different story… are you being honest?" Ayasha scolded.

A look of realization flashed upon the child's face, quickly being replaced by grim acceptance.

She shook her head no, indicating that she hadn't been truthful.

A relieved expression briefly flashed on the adult's face. It would seem she just needed to be coaxed out of her shell and perhaps she could open up. There was still hope for the girl yet.

Ayasha watched the child get lost in thought frowning and taking on an aura of gloom. She needed to do something for the girl… be some type of assistance… but what could she do?

"... Mina-kun, are you paying attention?"

The child looks up to Ayasha and tries to put on another brave face. She eagerly smiles and nods.

 _It would definitely not be easy stripping her of her shell…_ Ayasha frowns.

…

* * *

The patriarch who was elevated over the rest of the clansmen demanded the silence of those present with petrifying glares. The matter of Mina's new guardian or caretaker needed to be quickly addressed as she was not yet able to be responsible for herself.

He asked for any volunteers - when a familiar face stood from the seat at attention.

"Sir, I would be willing to let the child stay in my home and treat her as my own." Ayasha-san said.

Whispers spread over the members but they were hushed at the sideways glance produced by the elder patriarch.

"Does anyone have any reasons to object to this?" the patriarch asked before giving the child a look as if to say _'We're not asking for your opinion though.'_

The room fell silent.

"Yes, yes. It seems we have found you a home and someone to take care of you. You should feel blessed that you have such a supportive family. We are a pack and you are one of us, never forget that." He finished.

He waved everyone out of the room having concluded the processions. Mina was the only kid inside the meeting, but as she turned to leave, Ayasha-san quickly intercepted her retreat.

She flashed a quick look of annoyance before she looked around and tried to adopt a more graceful look. Ayasha was hoping that she wasn't overestimating her abilities. She wanted to be able to help Mina-chan even if she wasn't confident of her success.

"Th-thanks Ayasha-san for taking me in. I very much appreciate at it and I'm glad someone as nice as you volunteered." The child's thankfulness and praise melted any doubts that swam in her mind. There would be no mistake, she would love this child so that it could know love - starting now.

tears welled up behind Ayasha's eyes, being fought away and vanishing quickly.

"Of Course goofball. Someone has to make a proper lady out of you."

Ayasha looked the girl over, kneeling down to her eye level. She wouldn't break the stare she gave to Mina, keeping eye contact the whole time. Fear, helplessness, depression, the loss of hope… The windows to the soul showed a tragedy inside the small girl known as Mina Hyuga, already being revered as a genius.

She wrapped the girl in her arms, pulling her in close. A faint 'Eeep' noise of surprise slipped from the young girl..

"I won't let anything happen to you." Ayasha whispered.

…

* * *

The young genius had been slipping in and out of the house careful to avoid running into Ayasha. She's so set on independence and avoiding inconveniencing her new mother figure. Ayasha wished she could understand that she could rely and trust in her, but transitioning in baby steps would be important. Little by little she seems to be improving, but there is always a small underlying pain that as a replacement mother - she didn't know if she could ever fill.

Mina-chan was sneaking downstairs in the morning on her toes. Ayasha-san had made a new rule that her training equipment be kept in cubbies next to the door so she couldn't just sneak out the window in the mornings anymore.

It needed to be established this was more than just her residence, from now on this was her home.

Ayasha-san often worried and wanted to know where her little girl was to make sure that if she was needed she could be there for her. She had been more lenient, but things needed to change gradually so that the young girl can come to accept her place in the family. That she now had someone who wanted the best for her and could come to rely on rather than having to face the world all alone.

"It's nice to see you this morning." Ayasha said having snuck up behind the girl silently.

The girl nearly leapt from her skin making an audible gulp.

she turned around to see an irritated Ayasha. The woman's face could say it all. _"So your trying to give me the slip again are you?"_

"N..Nice to see you too Ayasha-san! I didn't want to wake you so that you could get your sleep."

 _Honestly… this girl… The more she fights me off the harder It makes me want to pull her in close._

…

* * *

The clan's gardens was well kept and sported the second most diverse collection behind the Yamanaka's. The sun was retreating behind the horizon caking the world in a crimson and golden aura. Ayasha and Tokuma walked with their hands folded together interlocking, the man pulling her along for something he only faintly described as 'A matter of grave importance.'

There was a hedge which was cut in a very peculiar way, definitely odd. Portions of the inner 'fluff' were removed causing light to bleed through. The shadows stretched long across the ground… Her heart soared and her free hand instinctively shot up to cover her mouth which by now was hanging open in a gasp.

Tokuma smiled so warm, crows feet appearing next to his eyes as they squeezed shut. He got onto a knee and reached behind him pulling out… he's pulling out a ring!

OH-MY-GOD OH-MY-GOD-OH-MY-GOOD "EEEP EEEP!"

She was freaking out, the reality of the situation sweeping over her like her dreams, or the stories of fairy tales.

On the ground, the light that bled through the hedge formed script which said "The love of my life, Ayasha Hyuga, Please marry me."

She was flustered, her whole face turning cherry red. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. She had to fan herself off or she was afraid she'd overheat and pass out.

She looked back to the man who had lead her here and shrieked- "Yes! Yes, a thousand times yes!"

She held her hand out expectantly and he took a hold of it like a delicate work of art, sliding the ring onto her bony finger and she glomped him. They giggled between the breaks when their mouths separated from their passionate kisses.

This night made her the happiest woman alive, she was sure. She hoped it would never end.

...

* * *

After the meal, Mina quickly scrambled to grab her belongings, heading out for her daily training. The door flung open, but before Ayasha let her dart outside, she shrieked out in blissful joy "I LOOOOVE YOU!"

She had hoped her feeling could get through to her. A smile spread across her face and she sent out silent praise to the heavens for blessing her so fully.

Mina spun around noticing Ayasha's arms extended - expecting a hug. Mina responded with a half grin and instead waved bye. "Cya later!" she spit out through her smile before slipping out the door.

Ayasha watched as the figure of the girl grew smaller in the distance. Her own personal family was coming together, outside just the familiar ties of the clan. A true home, It was everything Ayasha could want.

A Hyuga messenger quickly appeared with a paper in hand much to her surprise.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Hashinshin-san is currently under the weather due to eating something spoiled. Their calling it food poisoning and we need a clansmen to send as a replacement for typical external patrols.

"I am needed?" She asked hoping for clarification.

"-Sorry for the inconvenience Ayasha-san."

She gave a solemn nod, still beaming from her excellent mood. This unexpected news wouldn't ruin it, so she stepped back inside, quickly changing before setting out.

…

* * *

Byakugan active, she walked along the section of road between two main outposts. All was quiet and serene. The tranquility of the nature only served to lift her spirits further.

When I get home, Tokuma will likely have already started moving some of his possessions into their home… the home that would be now shared with three people. Her heart soared and she felt like singing.

Pain shot out from her chest.

A hard raspy cough escaped her lips pushing blood out her mouth.

She fell to her knees, twisting her neck, and seeing a large extended sword that had been hidden in her blind spot… stretching a massive distance - skewering through her chest. She saw the putrid chakra and figure of the missing nin, the abomination, Orochimaru.

"Heeheheeheh!" He exclaimed with his long slender tongue hanging out of his mouth… where the blade extended from.

The blade retracted, and her wound bled profusely. Her heart had been hit… everything was getting fuzzy… No! Everything was finally going her way, you cant.

"God wh-y?" she coughed along with more blood. She needed to hang on for her new husband, and for her little girl. Someone still needed to protect her…

The world turned black as night… and her lungs expelled her final breath.

"Mina…" She said clenching her hand over afew blades of grass.

...

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again~

Let me know how I'm doing, your predictions for the future, any plot holes you may think you see, and I'll gladly message you back addressing them. Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. SERIOUSLY! I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **UnknownRegion**_

 _ **-rarepepe40**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-Killua Meatrider**_


	20. Chapter 16

**Article 20 - Chapter 16 - A Caged 'Caged' Bird.**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Hello! After this chapter I believe it's time to go back and revise the 20 chapters up to this point and clean them up. If anyone wants to help me with this I would welcome you with open arms! I'm always trying to improve the product, as well as my ability to write._

 _ ***** If you guys don't mind the rushed updates with little revisions and edits and instead are here specifically for the story, Then speak up and let your voice be heard. If enough people let me know that I should continue with the story instead of halt it temporarily to improve the craft and structure of these chapters I'll definitely consider putting it off to push onward. (perhaps allowing a fan to help with revisions and alterations to the structure and cleaning up mistakes.) *****_

 _ **-Seriously let me know your opinion or your desires will fall on deaf ears -**_

 _Oh, I've also definitely took some liberties with Orochimaru's character to fit my story, but if you think deeply about them, I hope you can come to see they might not be too far fetched. Without further ado, let's get to the chapter!_

* * *

 _ **...**_

 _ **(Last Chapter)**_

A blond haired ninja walked in closing the door behind him. His hair was long, pulled back into a ponytail. The anbu at my side sat more alert and acknowledged our visitor.

"Yamanaka-san." he said.

…

"Hello, my name is Inoraiji Yamanaka. Do you know why I am here?" the blond man asked not pulling his eyes away from his clipboard.

The blood in my veins turned to ice and I couldn't hold back the small shutter from sweeping my body.

"-Because I am considered a risk to myself?" I answered honestly.

If i'm not absolutely careful around this man, he will see right through me. I have to mask any lies that are absolutely necessary behind mostly truthful statements or I won't have any hope. It's a blessing I had experience with psychologist's in my past life and have a rough idea what he's looking for.

He glanced up from the clipboard with eyes of evaluation. I could feel his gaze penetrate trying to see the inner workings of my mind. Cold perspiration seeped through my pores and uneasiness hung over me like a cloud.

"Are you a danger to yourself?"

Well… He certainly already knows I basically strangled myself… Denying it would be a blatant lie, but admitting it also comes with its own problems. His strategy, as infuriating as it was… was undeniably brilliant. -And they praise the Nara's for tactics.

"I… wanted to feel pain stronger than what's inside… to escape from reality."

It wasn't exactly an answer to his question. There is a certain art for giving non answers to paint a picture for someone else. Rather than having him come to his own conclusions, I will influence them.

"Can you see yourself acting similarly in the future?" I could tell he was scanning over me for every scrap of data he could mine.

 _Why did I get myself into this situation?_

"I won't deny the possibility… but I doubt that I am a risk to my survival. I was… so overcome with grief that I lost my ability to think rationally. -Normally, this is not an issue."

 _Sure… pain is a tool I use to ground myself and get through the most unpleasant situations of my life, but I had never actually endangered my life per-say to this point. A solid half-truth._

An eyebrow raised on the face of the psychoanalyst and I briefly wondered what part of my statement caused the reaction.

"You are 6 years of age correct?" the man casually asked.

 _Ha! Maybe the psychology of the Yamanaka's is vastly inferior to my own worlds. He just handed me the information that I wanted so carelessly. It is truly fortunate I am stuck in this 6 year old body and he underestimates me._

"Yes, but I am told the Hyuga's mentally develop faster due to the extra information we are required to process through." This isn't a lie at all, and handing out this information so willingly will surely help him accept the reason I see myself as more mature.

The blonds pen scratched at the clipboard secured to his thigh. The point danced around the page adding notes and probably adding his own personal thoughts.

"What are your goals for the future?"

The same deadpanned face as solid as stone masked anything the man might have been thinking. I couldn't glint any hint of his motivation behind this… It was an odd question to ask someone whose parent just died.

" _Oh no…"_ A terrifying thought occurred to me. This man might be probing me for an entirely different reason. I had my own personal anbu trailing me for the past year, and now as soon as I slip up a Yamanaka is here… probably orders coming from the top. Someone must be very interested in me… _"what do they know?"_

"I used to want to become the strongest ninja in the hidden leaf. Bring pride and honor to my clan. In the over 50 years since the village was established, A hyuga has never risen to the infamous S rank. I used to want to prove myself… To show the Hyuga are not a peg below the other noble clans..."

"Used to? As in past tense? What do you want now?"

As much as I wanted to take advantage of this situation to my benefit, my remanence of humanity thrashed about in my skull. The part of me that refused to let Ayasha-san's death be used to manipulate this man. It would taint the only thing I still had from her, my memories.

I struggled, and fought, but my mind was not stronger than my body. Tears poured out like the rupture of a dam. In this brief moment of weakness, a truth poured from my mouth before I could hold it back. "I just want Ayasha-san back!"

My resolve is so weak… I've tainted her name. I'm certain a part of me, the cold manipulative part, loved spitting that out. It loved that it could be used as ammunition to derail the interrogation.

-But the other half of me wanted to strangle myself again. Using an angel's name for my own self-interest. If I followed her example, I would put others before myself and just tell them everything, own up to my mistakes and gladly take my punishment.

However… that was impossible. As much as I admired and respected Ayasha, I was not her, and nor would I ever be her. I am deeply defective despite how productive I am. I thought I was a neat little monster who always tied up loose ends for a bigger picture… _How could I ever actually believe something so grandiose?_

Inoraiji Yamanaka paused in place, looking like he hadn't expected my outburst. My mask of calm crumbling before his eyes. The well kept together genius the world saw, was now falling apart at the seams and there wasn't anyone who could help her put the pieces back together.

-Like a beautiful completed puzzle being dragged to the floor by a toddler, everything was apart and disconnected.

The blond man reached out a hand, yet restrained himself from approaching the me. The liquid warped my vision and I could not rein the feral emotions in. They were like a strong primal animal which refused to be tamed.

I was given some time to calm myself, and after a long while of releasing the emotions that felt bottled and restrained, I only felt empty.

…

* * *

 _ **(Orochimaru POV)**_

This is perfect. I will be able to test the Senju cells capability to adapt to the human body. Soon the research will be complete enough to incorporate them into myself and I can transcend my old limitations bringing me ever closer to the immortal perfection I crave. The labor up to this point could pay off tremendously as long as everything goes as planned.

"I'm told a body was found inside the village limits. Your carelessness could very well cause scrutiny on myself."

"We have a deal Danzo, I assist you with your little 'project' and I am left to my own devices, or have you forgotten due to your senile age?" I hissed.

The elder's eyes narrowed as he struck the concrete with his wooden cane. An ambient crash resounded throughout the dimly lit area, echoing with loud acoustics. "I needn't remind you what's at stake if you are caught or fail."

Grim laughter, so deep and deranged, escaped my lips. _This old relic thinks he can threaten me? We'll see how long that lasts when I return and topple your empire - morphing it to ashes._

"Yes, yes. You are quite correct, all the more reason to begin as soon as possible don't you believe?"

My tongue slipped about inside my mouth. The prospect of this request was so juicy. To create an arm out of the replicated cells to use as a prosthetic. It was cutting edge technology and technique that took years of slaving to even attempt, and now here he was with the opportunity to test it on such a worthy specimen.

 _It was a shame the Hyuga had the cursed bird seal or her eye's could have been a great asset to future experiments. It is such a shame this world is so stingy about sharing information. How I wish for a world where everyone could be united in knowledge and reach for the pinnacle of perfection. Upon discovery of the path to knowledge, I've learned that no matter how far you travel, the road is ever stretching. Bottlenecks and roadblocks along the way are unacceptable, moving forward is the human imperative and they dare accuse me of being inhumane?_

The sadistic smile spreading across my face had the elder in front of me wince. _The fool, just like Sarutobi-sensei, mistakes genius for insanity, However this old fart has always known the fundamental truth deep down. -Else why would I be here? Yes… He knows that the work I do furthers our species. Climbing ever higher on the proverbial steps to the likeness of the gods. We are only made in their image, but their decrees that are supposed to restrain us - I can see them for what they are._

 _There restrictions are actually the path to their likeness. Their greedy attempt at hoarding it for themselves. The gods have killed and allowed death from the beginning. We are to forever worship the gods? Content to remain sniveling at their heels like good dogs? - I think not… You shall not covet, you shall not steal? -But it is written everything belongs to god, did you think we would overlook something so trivial? No- God is dead and empty prayers do nothing which is why mankind must step into the domain of the gods, and I will pave the path. Every damn jutsu will be mine. Every spec of knowledge, mine. In the end - I will achieve what no man has ever achieved..._

"Okay… Let's get on with it then." Donzo suggested. It was not an actual suggestion, but more of a demand.

"Absolutely."

 _This relic best watch his step if he doesn't wish to be trampled underfoot by the predator in front of him. You are lucky you are so very useful, but after you exhaust that, I will have no need for you._

...

* * *

 _ **(Hiruzen POV)**_

The group of three huddled around the crystal ball. It displayed the image of a hospital room with three individuals inside. The smallest of the three, the little girl named Mina Hyuga, was trying to fight back the tears that kept pouring out.

Inoichi Yamanaka and Ibiki Morino stood to each side of the Sandaime paying close attention to the scene projected inthe the ball.

"It would appear that the child had legitimate attachment to the woman, however before this outburst I could sense her tailoring her responses to the inquisitor. She is most definitely of a manipulative nature."

The Hokage opened a desk drawer, fetching his wooden pipe already packed to the brim with tobacco. "Ibiki, what is your assessment?"

"There is certainly something underneath. The age old saying 'Where there is smoke there are flames' comes to mind... Shall I transfer her to T.I. to get answers?"

Hiruzen's face which had been pulled together into that of blank stoicism broke. A pained frown manifesting and not being dispelled. "I have had this girl followed for over a year and we're still not much closer to figuring out her true nature. Let's play this one slow, careful to hold all the cards. I want this investigation to be tight and played close to the chest - do you understand?"

Looks of realization appear on each of the visitors before giving their superior a solemn nod.

"Alright - Let's release her and keep an eye on her for a day. Every single move must be watched and documented. Afterwards, bring her in and I will leave her to the both of you to get answers. I want you two to be certain she is not a security risk before being released, have I made myself clear?"

"Yes Sandaime!" They chorused.

"If her clan ask why we have taken her, what are we to tell them?"

The elder sucked on his pipe dragging in as much smoke as he could into his lungs - The burn complimenting his ablaze will, his will of fire.

"Tell them that we are tending to her psychological welfare after close examination. They no doubt will learn that we will keep eyes on her even in the compound, but because of Hiashi's absence we have a brief window to exploit this opportunity… Please do not fail me."

-And just like that the men were excused.

" _God… why must you leave me with these types of decisions… They challenge the very essence of my will..."_

…

* * *

The man kept asking questions. More and more, a sea of them which never seemed to end. I did the best I could manage was some damage control which was miraculous _\- Actually scratch that word-_ It was fortunate that I even managed that with how everything was unraveling.

I was finally released from the hospital, allowed to be taken home by Tokuma. The man was still so obviously heartbroken and how could he not be?

I desperately needed to find my anchor. I needed something to draw strength from besides myself or I would be swept away in the sea of madness that threatened to drown me.

" _Who could it be? Who could become my Anchor? Lee?"_ I thought.

 _...No, Lee has yet to truly find his way in life and I certainly can't trust him with any of my true feelings yet… Perhaps Sasuke? He ends up defecting the village… Well he did before I probably fucked that up causing him to skip a year in the academy. He was a viable option especially if I wait until Itachi slaughters his clan and I tell him it was all directive from the village._

 _...I simply can't afford to wait that long… No I need someone else. It would be a gamble… but perhaps I can convince Neji to come to my side? The only thing I truly see standing in the way his is dreary outlook that everything was predetermined. Perhaps I can convince him that isn't true and test him… I want to hear his true opinions of the clan and village. He's a genius and I doubt manipulation would affect him so it would all well and good be a complete gamble - But I can at least mitigate the damage by feeling him out. If he seems too adverse to the idea, I could always change my mind._

I felt sure of my idea… Well as sure as I could about an idiotic idea born of necessity and emotion. How I long to return to the pillar of pragmatism and logic, but this accursed village brings out the worst in me. If only I could have stayed stronger, more resolute to fly under the radar… All this attention I created for myself, I hadn't imagined it working against me.

 _This militaristic_ _aristocracy is shooting itself in its own damn foot. Doesn't it know any of the principles of intrinsic value?_

* * *

...

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, Still haven't got to the Neji scene I want to write Probably won't have the time to finish that scene before the day is over so I figured I'd release this to you guys early. To writing where the characters take us...

Let me know how I'm doing, your predictions for the future, any plot holes you may think you see, and I'll gladly message you back addressing them. Thanks so much for sticking with my story this far! It means a lot to me. SERIOUSLY! I appreciate every reader and expect a much more smooth, polished story when I finally get to revisions!

 **Enjoy the story and** _ **I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review.**_ **I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Redderthanred31**_

 _ **-Azaira**_

 _ **-Roberto Pelotudo**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_

 _ **-Killua Meatrider**_


	21. Chapter 17

**Article 21 - Chapter 17 - Torture and Interrogation.**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Hello! Urgh, I'm a spazztic when it comes down to actually editing. The whole time I'm thinking of things I want to write in the future and I end up killing my motivation lol. I told myself I wasn't going to write ahead until I revised and edited more, but I'm_ _ **waaaaay**_ _too impatient, So I pumped this chapter out. Sorry for being a little slow on this one, So here's about 5,000 words for you (:D)_

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Inner Monologue)**_

" _Who could it be? Who could become my Anchor? Lee?"_ I thought.

 _...No, Lee has yet to truly find his way in life and I certainly can't trust him with any of my true feelings yet… Perhaps Sasuke? He ends up defecting the village… Well he did before I probably fucked that up causing him to skip a year in the academy. He was a viable option especially if I wait until Itachi slaughters his clan and I tell him it was all directive from the village._

 _...I simply can't afford to wait that long… No I need someone else. It would be a gamble… but perhaps I can convince Neji to come to my side? The only thing I truly see standing in the way his is dreary outlook that everything was predetermined. Perhaps I can convince him that isn't true and test him… I want to hear his true opinions of the clan and village. He's a genius and I doubt manipulation would affect him so it would all well and good be a complete gamble - But I can at least mitigate the damage by feeling him out. If he seems too adverse to the idea, I could always change my mind._

…

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 17 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _What did he just say? ...I don't think I heard him right?_

"Huh?"

The blonde looked at me for a moment before he repeated: "You're free to go."

 _It was that easy? How screwed up is this world that they can shrug off a 6 year old strangling themselves. Well, I guess I can't complain, otherwise I'd need to answer more for the brunt of my peculiar behavior._

I collected my belongings and quickly made to leave. Before I reached the door, a hand fell on my shoulder, gripping it, making me wince. _What was it now? … Was even this just a test to see how I would respond?_

A quiet fury ignited inside me for even allowing myself the hope this was real.

"Take care of yourself. If you need to talk to anyone, you may request me through the psychological therapy department in this hospital. Remember - You're not alone."

My animosity melted as if ice flung into the sun, instead a sinking feeling replaced it, a realization that his sympathy would be wasted on me.

"T-thanks Y-Yamanaka-san." I choked.

I pushed the door open making my escape. I kept myself under control, trying not to move too fast, but still make progress to put distance between myself and this place. One step at a time. I kept walking. The scenery of the village was serene. I found myself lost in my own thoughts.

 _What would I say to Neji? … How can I present a piece of myself to him? -One that would show some of my imperfections, but not too many that he wouldn't accept me. I need to find out what he thinks... why has he given up hope? How can you discard hope entirely? Can I do that? Would I want to?_

 _ ***Kachhhooooooooooom!***_ A crash of thunder brought me back to my senses.

The humid mist of the fog chilled my lungs. It felt so therapeutic. My nerves which were wound so tight started to lose tension. The air which forcasted rain caused me to turn in the direction of the compound.

 _What do I know about Neji? Hmmm… Well I know he resents the illusion the main family controls his destiny. I know he resents his father sacrificing himself - Even if he doesn't accept the fact on the surface. His eyes' of my memories are like a mirror of mine now, reflecting the same pain, the same regret. I hadn't fully understood it until today. Yes, Today was different._

I paused. The archway of the clans domain hung over me. Beautiful etchings covered the keystone where the two half arches met. I had never noticed it before, but there were two people who leaned against each other, probably in representation of a strong foundation built on delegation of duty. _I'm alone again… I have to walk into this place alone, and work to sway to get someone on my side. I need someone in my corner, I don't want to be alone._

I struggled, albeit shortly. I took a strained step, followed by another. My steps continued until I stopped at a door. I focused on slowing my breathing. Focus… I need to be calm. If I'm too emotional I won't be able to control myself. I could very well say things without thinking it through. Even if Neji is smart enough to see through any manipulative tactics I could take, It wouldn't be smart to send caution to the wind.

 _ ***Knock Knock Knock***_

My heart lurched in my chest. Stupid, calm down. Idiot!

I let a raspy sigh escape my lips.

Silence.

I'm not a patient person. As much as I'd like to believe that I'm long term goal oriented... My flesh, My weakness - _I know better than that. How could I get to my goals if I fall apart before reaching them?_

My lips pulled into a frown. I could feel the familiar chakra presence inside these walls. I knew he was in there.

 _ ***Knock Knock Knock Knock... Knock Knock***_

Silence… It cut into me like anxiety. It unsettled me.

 _...Sound… Footsteps approaching…_

" _If I want trust… I'm going to have to give some away… If I want love... I'm going to have to learn how to change."_ It was a quote from somewhere I don't remember… but it flashed into my mind in these few seconds before our confrontation.

The door opened with a slow creak. The familiar boy looked down to my face. I felt a heat emanate from my core, A warm soothing pulse.

"Can I… -I come in?" My throat felt scratchy and the words weren't coming out how they were in my head.

Inside his eyes' I could see pain. Pain from seeing me here. A pain born from confusion.

He opened the door further, moving to the side indicating I could enter.

My heavy steps fell ungracefully, Like they were made of lead.

The door shut behind me. I continued through the home not looking back. It had been a while since I visited him here to be honest. I found my way into a wooden chair I pulled from the dining space. I noticed that his eyes wouldn't meet my own anymore, instead staring holes into the ground.

"Neji-Senpai… Why do you think we were put in this world?"

His eyes darted to me, looking even more confused than before. His eyes stared past me in thought.

Silence…

"Destiny has placed us here to fulfill a purpose. -All of us…" He looked like it hurt him to say, but he definitely believed his words.

"What were Hizashi-san and Ayasha-san's purpose?"

I could see my question cut like a blade. Frustration and pain flashed like a bomb, His fist impacting the table causing a glass to _clink_ and tip over. The glass rolled along it's side to escape off the table, but I reached out and plucked it from the air before it could reach the floor.

"F-f-f-for the main clan." He choked out in a violent rage. Those words pulled out of him like teeth. His eyes glazed over, then turning to walk away.

I leapt from my seat, clasping onto his hand which dragged behind his body. He spun around in surprise, giving me a questioning glance.

"Do you really think that we were put in the world to fight off the village's enemies and protect our family… Is that all a human life boils down to?" He remained silent. A myriad of emotions appearing one by one, before finally being replaced by a pensive mask. I quickly added: "I don't think life is that simple..."

" **WHAT OTHER CHOICE DO WE HAVE? NONE! WHY EVEN BRING IT UP? IT DOESN'T MATTER MINA - IN THE END WE ARE TOOLS, GET IT THROUGH THAT DENSE SKULL OF YOURS. YOUR ASPIRATIONS ARE THE CLANS! THE SOONER YOU ACCEPT THAT, THE LESS PAIN YOU WILL EXPERIENCE."** His breaths erratic and tears streaming from his eyes. He resembled more a broken boy than the prodigy I had come to known over these past years.

His fists balled up, squeezing it tight with great strength. The circulation being cut, evident by the pale shade of white they became. My hand still clutching at his wrist was weakly tugged at in an half-hearted attempt to escape my clutches.

"I'll find a way for us. Believe in me. I will fight tooth and limb against destiny and society alike. I feel like I could do anything with you at my side…"

A look of flabbergasted shock and panic shone through. He looked doubtful, but for a brief moment, I could have sworn I saw a glimpse of hope.

" **Rrrawwghhh!"** He exclaimed, slapping my hold, and turning to run. Sprinting down the hallway, then out the door, leaving it open, and not even turning to look back.

I fell to my knees in the doorway watching his figure grow ever smaller.

"It hurts... this sucks so much… Please don't go…" I choked for air. My lungs felt completely dysfunctional. The sound of rain pouring all around, drumming against structures and the ground helped drown my cries of agony... I struggled to close the door, favoring to head to my empty home.

I slinked in through my window, cold and damp. I peeled the soaked clothing off me, slinging it against the wall. The clothes that briefly stuck to the wall, eventually found gravity was a too powerful force, being finally pulled to the floor.

I reached for a spare blanket to dab at my hair and wrap it up. Goosebumps fighting up from the cool draft from the window caressing over my skin. My body shivered and shuttered, but I ignored it. I dove into my bed, digging my face into the bedding and pillows to drown out my screams.

My screams came less and less, till I was too tired to scream or fight. I just wanted to lay still… deathly still. ' _What's the point of reaching the top if I don't even want to look up?'_

…

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"What's going on?!"

Shouting downstairs alarmed me as to what was going on. I quickly arrived downstairs to the realization that a number of men besides Tokuma-san were inside the house, and even more were pouring through the open door.

A tall man with a wide build stepped closer to me. He had two scars running diagonally across his face. His cold, calculating, and emotionally detached eyes' stared through me causing alarm to ring through my mind. His Hitai-ate plastered onto a dark blue bandanna. He wore a black trenchcoat, still dripping from the rain, which was covering up his uniform.

 _Is this that Ibiki guy who was supposedly the head of T.I. ?! -What the hell? What do they know? Was letting me go a pretense? Did they overhear my words to Neji? Oh no… I've been truly careless… STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!_

"Mina Hyuga, After close examination, our staff believes that your psychological welfare needs to be addressed. I knew Ayasha Hyuga personally and have made your rehabilitation and therapy my top priority. Please come with me." His words rough and to the point, could have been interpreted as me still having the final say, but his demanding tone left little doubt.

I stared in utter disbelief. _He's lying through his teeth!_ I quickly shot a glance over to Tokuma-san whose face was scrunched in horror. _No, this certainly is not something that simple…_

"Do I have an option to decline?" I asked.

"I apologize, You don't." He said without a hint of emotion.

A tooth sunk into my tongue. A coppery taste swirled into my mouth which I fought back with swallows. I was lead through the village and stared at by many… I'm sure my suicidal story is going to be fed to the village, and I didn't even get a chance to tell Neji in person… I hate the authority that hovers over me…

I was brought to the T.I. building. As I was being lead through it, several people noticed and pityingly peeking at me - sure to keep their intentions hidden by looking elsewhere quickly and seeming overly occupied.

 _I was likely being hauled off to hell. Being-X had won. Checkmate._ The only way I could logically see myself weasel my way out of this would be the strategic equivalent of a child's tantrum to wipe the board.

I was lead deeper and deeper into the area's underneath the surface level of the building. As soon as we got to the elevator, they blindfolded me… which honestly was a stupid countermeasure considering I had the Byakugan and I could see regardless. I considered activating them so I didn't have such a sense of spatial confusion. I wanted to prevent them from robbing me from anything further…

The familiar harsh voice cut into my ear that woke me to my vulnerability.

"Your Chakra is sealed. Try as you might, you will never get it back until you cooperate."

 _There was nothing that I could do… This is the worst place I could find myself probably in this entire world. If they see all the way through me, there will be no escape… Happily never after. The man has probably dealt with more monster's than I could imagine… How could he not recognize me for what I am?_

I could still feel the chakra of my surroundings, which helped me paint an image of the building I was being blindly lead through.

Ironically, this is the 2nd time my vision has been stolen from me… The first through genetic failure, now through isolation.

I kept walking… and walking… and walking… until metal screeched and I was shoved forward. A clank sounded behind me alarming me to a possible situation. My arms flew out and I felt my surroundings. A smooth metallic surface that sapped my body heat through touch made me pull my hand back.

A draft nipped at my exposed skin sending chills through my body. The walls surrounding the door were made of solid rock or concrete, and as I felt my way around my surroundings I found a bed. (If it could really even be called a bed.)

It was a firm long cushion placed along a metal cott. I laid on my back against it uncomfortably, pulling my arms through my sleeves and cradling them near my core. I shivered and stewed in my misery. I wanted to give up hope, abandon it completely and give in to the hopelessness.

I really did want to…

But I couldn't. A retreat isn't defeat, it's conserving resources to better be allocated later. _I'll just emotionally retreat for a while. Drown out my real emotions and brainwash myself into believing some of the misguided teachings of the leaf. I needed to get my story together. I needed to figure out what exactly my options were. I have a final stand, and they are trying to sap me of all my will to resist. I can't make it look like I give up, but I can't seem to be against the ideals of the leaf either. I need to walk along some moral middle ground that I can explain away whatever they have on me… The only problem is I'm in the dark on what they actually know… SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! FUCK!_

I laid out, moving my body occasionally to generate just a little more heat. I kept up the cycle out of my self interest and will to persevere. I waited patiently to get my turn. _If they don't have enough evidence against me, Hiashi-sama might be able to fish me out of here by the time he returns._

It sounded logical, but I wasn't certain in my evaluation. It was more of a pretty thought that I fed myself and clung to. It made the hours that crawled by more sufferable.

I sat up quickly after registering footsteps outside the room… they were getting closer! Perhaps this is my time, I've got to get ready… the footsteps paused outside of the door… and then continued past… _why? Were they not for me? Are these even more mind games they are playing on me? To unsettle me, to leave me completely disconnected?_

The thought that they would try this hard on a six year old girl pissed me off to no end. It really helped wake me to the unacceptable standards of this world. _**COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE…**_

Those words repeated in my head to help reaffirm my enemies… which were this whole world and the demonic 'Being-X.' _Perhaps if I survive, I'll gain enough power to enslave the world and change it to my whims. What a beautiful thought!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Sasuke POV)**

Rain pattered down onto the umbrella stretched over his head while he hurried along the paved roads toward the outskirts of the village with the groceries his mother asked him to pick up. A yawn escaped his lips as he rolled his shoulders to loosen up the body which became stiff in the colder weather.

A familiar figure cut across in front of him running like a maniac and passed him. The white eyes bloodshot as they passed didn't even notice the Uchiha as the figure ran ever forward past him and out of sight.

"...Neji? What happened to him?" he whispered. "Hnn…"

He became lost in thought before realizing he had stopped in the middle of the road which were nearly empty due to the weather. _I wonder what could have happened to cause a reaction like that from him… hmm…_

Deciding contemplating on the matter would do nothing and that in the end it would only be a waste of time, Sasuke continued on towards his home.

…

The next day, a certain Hyuga was missing from the class and several of the kids in class whispered to eachother. It was odd, especially considering the state he had seen Neji yesterday. He had a lack of composure that was chilling when compared to his usual smug and confident self.

Mina was nowhere to be found, except on the lips of the students all around him.

"I heard she tried to kill herself so she is being treated somewhere-"

"-Yeah, I heard her guardian died… and didn't her original mom kill herself in front of her? No wonder she's so _scary_."

 _What?! That's impossible. She's so strong, she's the strongest girl I've ever met in our age bracket. Why would she ever try to kill herself?_ Try as he might no solution to his question satisfied him, therefore he considered the information to be false. _She couldn't have tried to kill herself, They must just be baseless rumors._

Having just made up his mind, He glanced back at the Hyuga in the back of the room. He was deadly silent. His head face down, only being held up by his arms that were crossed together on the desk.

 _They can't be true… She doesn't seem the type to give up._

The image of Neji running past him flashed over and over in his mind, leaving his stomach churning uncomfortably.

Next he thought of the moment Mina seized up and choked in the exhibition match between her and Neji. She just let the attack hit her, like a panic ridden deer frozen in fear.

 _What is going on? It doesn't make sense she could be that weak to seek out escape over revenge. If someone killed someone from my family, I'd never let them go. I'd hound them to the ends of the earth until I got my revenge… Isn't that how she was too?_

The Uchiha's head was starting to hurt by the string of thoughts going wild inside his head. Nothing was making any sense.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

After being lead out of what I could only assume to be the holding cell that I found myself trapped in for the past… _while_.

I was lead somewhere else, finally being stopped and coerced to sit into a chair. My ankles were locked in cuffs, then my blindfold was removed.

A light directed towards my face made it difficult to make out my surroundings, but through squints and stretching my neck I made out the surroundings to be something of a interrogation room.

The man sitting in front of me cleared his throat which yanked my attention from my surroundings. He had a neutral expression… and a hand snaked around a cup.

It wasn't until now I realized how dry my throat felt.

"May I have a drink?"

A frown appeared on his face but he didn't answer. Instead, he fidgeted with the cup. Sliding it between both his hands which were atop the table.

My eyes started adjusting to the abnormality that was the rooms lighting. I squeezed them shut, blinking several times hoping to speed the process up.

A faint drip sounded repeatedly… _Drip...Drip...Drip...Drip…_

The room would have been devoid of all noise without the incessant dripping and the scraping of the bottom of the cup that kept being slid across the table.

The room was small. No windows. Devoid from anything along the walls I could see. No clock or timepiece was in the room. No distractions at all.

Ibiki Stood from his chair, and walked behind me. I strained my neck to follow him, but eventually I just had to look over my other shoulder to keep my eye on him. He walked in circles around me without ever saying anything. After several minutes, a knock sounded on the door and he left the room through the door.

He hasn't said anything… He's depriving me of any information. _Does he just want me to talk? Is he trying to coerce me to incriminate myself without him even needing to say a word?_

 _-I'm not that weak, and I know that you're probably on a timetable. I hope I get to see that calm persona break… I hope I get to see some desperation… however unlikely that is._

After a few minutes, the door swung back open, and a figure walked through the doorway closing the door behind him. He approached closer making it apparent that it was a different man than last time. This man was wearing colorful clothing, had deep emerald green eyes, and blonde hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Hello Mina-chan. Sorry to meet you under such grim pretenses. The staff decided it was best to show you how unpleasant you could be treated to remind you how good you have it outside these walls."

 _Bullshit. Scare tactics on suicide risks are idiotic. I'd have to actually be a 6 year old of mind to believe that… oh no!? Can he hear my thoughts?_ _ **ARE YOU IN MY HEAD BASTARD?**_

The blonde's expression didn't drop the small friendly grin he wore. It would seem if he was going to get inside my head, he'd probably need to at least do a hand sign... _so perhaps I'm just being paranoid._

The Blonde slid the cup over to my free hands, and I quickly looked inside the cup, eyeing it carefully.

I was thirsty, but perhaps there is some sort of drugs in this to help coerce a confession. I lifted the cup to my lips, turning the bottom up.

I sealed my lips tight to be sure that none of the liquid found its way into my mouth before setting it back down on the table to the side… hoping he wouldn't have noticed I didn't take a drink.

"I'm sure your hungry by now right? If you could eat anything what would you want - I might be able to get someone to fetch it."

This question was probably posed to help me lower my guard, perhaps build rapport with this man establishing some sort of good cop bad cop routine. The comment did nothing to settle my heart in chaos, In fact it may have served to wind me tighter because of the connection I made between this and the "Final Meal" established in prisons in my last life. A chilling thought.

I'd be stupid not to take him up on his offer though… I had avoided unhealthy food like the plague in this life, and If I were going to have a final meal, I wanted something warm, and something renown from the village.

"Is there anyway I could get some fully loaded Ichiraku Ramen bowls?"

The man across the table chuckled at my request. "I'm sure we could accommodate you with that, let me go have an order be put in." He said standing out of the chair, it being pushed back and making a scraping noise across the floor.

The man slipped out through the door leaving me alone once again. I celebrated each little victory I could get stalling this out.

 _The longer I can prolong them from getting information, the higher chance I can be bailed out by Hiashi-sama after his return. These people are nuts, maybe even more nuts than me. They aren't looking down on me at all. They are treating me like a intellectual equal… This isn't good at all._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Inoichi POV)**

"The girl is very weary despite pretending to only be somewhat weary… She has a terrifying intellectual capacity to see through deceit and ploys." Ibiki stated.

"Hyuga-san didn't drink from the cup. She lifted it to her mouth but had her mouth closed the entire time." The Hyuga standing beside Ibiki reported.

A deep sigh escaped Inochi's lips looking at the both of them. He wished he could tell them they were overreacting… but being in the same room as her, and all the surveillance data that is compiled in the reports only help commemorate their misgivings.

 _She was certainly different. She held herself in the same manner as a counterintelligence agent. Was this Hiashi-san's doing giving her this training? Does she have some sort of role to play within their clan that is so confidencial that T.I. has no records on it? Are the Hyuga planning something which could put the village at risk?_

This little girl was making waves across the whole village. No cases similar to hers had ever been given to him before. The closest recorded cases of similar behaviors are that of Itachi Uchiha, and the legendary sannin Orochimaru.

 _The intelligence level is certainly on their same level especially comparing them from her respective age, but the intentions and aspirations of the two couldn't have been more different. Is she to become some sort of savior for the leaf, or a monster?_

"How will we go about determining if she is an invaluable asset, or a unimaginable threat?" Inochi asked softly.

Ibiki smiled at his previous mentor's question, a cold malicious smile.

"We will gather as much information as we can, then connect to her through pain. We will become equals until I can see what she sees. It's a blessing she is very durable; I don't imagine her breaking easily."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, Finally got to the Neji scene I've been wanting to write FOREVER. At this point in the scene, he is oblivious to her suicide attempt, and when you see him in 'Sasuke's POV' he had realized he ran from her when she was in dire need making him feel terrible. As to answer a Guest's question as to potential pairings… I don't have any picked, and I'm undecided whether to give her one or not. Having this story be a Semi-SI and writing a romantic relationship through her eyes kinda makes me want to cringe because I'd have to imagine myself in her shoes. If I give her a pairing I'm also undecided whether it will even be male. I have never done a reviewer question before, but I figured this is as good as any place to start.

 **Reviewer Question: - Who would you pair/ship with our MC, and why?**

 _(If you wouldn't ship anyone, you can just as well say no'one and explain your reason as well!)_

 **I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _ **Redderthanred31 -**_ _Yes, Orochimaru is a sort of transhumanist that believes that humans need to work together to further themselves as a species. It makes sense how this sparks a decent into his madness and how he would be capable of rationalizing any action he takes._

 _ **-**_ _ **Mysterious Goat -**_ _Your comment spurred my Reviewer question, so thanks for your input._

 _ **-**_ _Guest_

 _ **-SteveTheBeast**_

 _ **-Killua Meatrider**_


	22. Chapter 18

**Article 22 - Chapter 18 - Prices For The Leaf's Peace**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _I'll get to editing more of the early chapters soon, but instead, here's another chapter! (:D) -Enjoy._

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

The man across the table chuckled at my request. "I'm sure we could accommodate you with that, let me go have an order be put in." He said, standing out of the chair. It was pushed back making a scraping noise as he stood.

The man slipped out through the door leaving me alone once again. I celebrated each little victory I could get stalling this out.

 _The longer I can prolong them from getting information, the higher chance I can be bailed out by Hiashi-sama after his return. These people are nuts, maybe even more nuts than me. They aren't looking down on me at all. They are treating me like a intellectual equal… This isn't good at all._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 18 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

Steam rose distorting the air above the bowl with cloudy vapors. The heat rising kissed my skin in a welcoming sensation. The noodles a bit too hot to actually eat yet, so I shifted my attention wearily to the person who sat before me.

The blonde clan head sat in mild amusement at my excitement to finally be able to eat. His arms were crossed across his chest and he was wearing a cheeky grin unfitting of the location we found ourselves.

"I hear that you have been studying at the hospitals library. Do you have interest in becoming a medic-nin?"

 _Why would he lead with such a question?_

"Medical Ninjutsu is certainly useful, and there's a lot of applications I could see myself using it for, but I do not intend to specialize as a medic-nin."

An eyebrow raised in what I assumed to be curiosity… But assumptions are dangerous here. He's only allowing me to see what he wants me to see.

"I see. At one point I wanted to become a medic-nin. I learned quite a bit before turning my attention back to intelligence gathering techniques and combat specialization. What kind of ninja do you see yourself becoming?"

"The strongest kunoichi from the hidden leaf. Strong enough to solve problems easily and protect what's important to me."

"We're alike in that sense. I became a ninja to protect what is important to me too. I strive to protect the village and my family. What is important to you Hyuga-kun?"

 _Trying to establish some commonalities are you? This man has a silver tongue._

I swallowed back all the saliva building in my mouth. Leaning forward, I started blowing on the surface broth so that it could be eaten sooner. _I need to have my mouth occupied so he can stop asking so many questions._

"Did you know that the Hyuga have never produced an S ranked shinobi since the foundation of the hidden leaf?" I asked casually.

He leaned a bit forward, setting his elbows on the table to support his weight. He gave me ample eye contact and seemed interested in what I had to say. _He thinks what I'm going to say here will be important… hmm…_

"The Hyuga's pump out "A" ranked nin all the time, but the gap between the true elite and those that are just talented and strong has never been bridged by us. Why do you think that is?"

Inoichi acknowledged my question with a small nod, but took some time to grace my question with an answer.

"... "S" ranked ninja are a rarity who can't simply be made. The Hyuga, as blessed as they are with the Byakugan, can't simply be expected to rise to such a legendary status. That being said, I'm curious why you think the Hyuga's haven't had an "S" ranked shinobi yet."

 _He's deflecting. Is he implying his opinions doesn't matter or simply too intrigued by my own? Perhaps answering my own question reasonably would cause him to lose the metaphorical 'upper hand' in our discussions._

"Arrogance. Tradition. Self-Importance. Shortsightedness. Fear... These are the things holding back my clan. We don't offer the same opportunities to all the clan so that the main branch will have a power disparity over the side branch. They bind us with a seal to rob us of our freedom born of fear of the realization of our own capabilities."

I grabbed ahold of the chopsticks set before me and began twisting noodles around them.

"We are drilled with the idea that we already have refined our craft to such a degree we can make "A" ranked ninja's with ease. _'If it's not broken, then why fix it?'_ They probably think… We don't look to innovate, In fact innovation is heavily looked down upon in my clan. We are so obsessed with repeating our history we never pave a future… This causes a lot of us to suffer, but It's all we have ever known, so people won't speak up."

The chopsticks in my hand moved up to my lips and I slurped the noodles without regard to any etiquette.

Inoichi's mouth visibly dropped open at my words, even turning to look at the wall next to us before quickly glancing back.

The steaming delight slid down my throat easily while my taste buds celebrated the flavor. **Mmmmmhhhh** - _Oh my Go-Goodness, this is truly phenomenal! No wonder Naruto and so many are completely obsessed with this food._

I pulled my attention back for a moment in order to steal looks at the man before me.

"So you are saying that you know better than your clan?" He asked looking for clarification.

"Yamanaka-san, Disregard what I think for a moment... What is your opinion?"

 _I really wanted to get back to this bowl of golden opportunity. It wasn't fair for him to dig like that anyways. Its obvious if you think about it that the clan doesn't care about improvement. They look to preserve what they have which will cause them to always be left behind._

I slurped more and more noodles from the bowl while hung over it, making sure not to lose any.

"I understand your perspective, but it's not your decision what the clans priorities are. Your clan head makes those decisions the same way the Hokage makes the decisions for the entirety of the leaf."

"There is no way to check the power of the clan heads from inside our own clans. The village has the counsel of advisers which help dictate the disposition of the Hokage. The Clan head's make their cases and apply their leverage to see the village still has the will of it's people at heart… But the clan heads are born into their power. I just want to see my people flourish and have their own voice."

…

My opinions must have taken these T.I. agents by surprise. I found myself quickly returned to my cell after finishing my ramen. I dropped them quite the bombshell and they are probably trying to make sense of it all right now.

I painted myself as a patriot to the leaf over that of any clans. A champion of the people. Only here, could I play such a card and expect people to praise me for it. They think I'm some sort of monster? I'll paint them a damn picture that I'm the leaf villages little monster. A girl so dejected by her own clan that she's willing to do anything to change it. It explains away my endless dedication and secrecy.

The corners of my mouth began spreading apart and rising. They pinched into a elated grin at my ploy to redefine the problem. Perhaps they will even task me with personally changing the clan and revere me as a hero! The Irony would be more scrumptious than a thousand ramen bowls.

The fact they didn't even bother to blindfold me before returning me to the cell proves how effective my last ditch effort was. The board had been flipped and now the game would be completely redefined.

Despite the cold atmosphere of the room, a steady heat burned in my chest. The heat of pride, the heat of joy, the heat of satisfaction.

 _Being proactive is the only way to live. Where would I be if I senselessly depended on the metaphysical?_

Footsteps sounded in the distance. _Pat, pat, pat, pat._

 _They stopped… I swear they stopped in front of my cell door. This is way too quick! They can't have realistically revised their interrogation strategy already. ~impossible._

 _ ***Creeeeeeak***_

The flap used to slide food into the room lifted and an item slid through falling to the ground with a _slaaaap_.

 _Hm? Wha… A paperback?_ Footsteps sounded again, getting quieter each step until they disappeared into silence.

I cautiously lifted myself up from the mattress, making my way over to the item which had been dropped into my cell.

 _ **Tales of Old: A Collection of 100 Legends**_

A children's storybook? What great sense of taste they have… Well I suppose this is just further proof that I played my cards right.

I pried the book open in the middle and began thumbing through pages until a story caught my eye… **Article 57: Ryu Doragonsamonā**.

 _Ryu the Dragon Summoner huh? No wonder this is in the collection of legends and folktales. If you could summon dragons then who would ever want toads, slugs, or crows. Dragons, as majestic as they are, would be the ultimate summons._

 _-Stupid Kishimoto would have flaunted the fact if there were any Dragons that had summoning contracts… but then again, I learn new things about this world everyday. Perhaps I shouldn't be so close minded… and besides, if there is a dragon contract -_ _ **I WANT IT**_ _._

It's silly right? That I could be so calm right now fantasizing about some non existent dragon contract while imprisoned and fearful for my future. I managed to calm down significantly since my last talk with Inoichi Yamanaka.

 _Once upon a time, A legendary warrior lead his group of people overseas and began his conquest across the land. He was feared by the natives for his tremendous power. With the clap of his hands, Dragons would appear to breathe fire across and scorch the face of the world. All those that stood between this man and his goals were turned to ash._

 _Ryu_ _Raitofangu, this legendary conqueror, appeared demanding the attention of the entire land. He held far too much power for a single man alone, so the neighboring clans banded together in unison to fight the tyrant. Many died. Each battle cost the people, who were set on defending their homeland, dearly._

 _The pride and arrogance of the dragon summoner grew, until he found himself ambushed in a small cave. A cave too small to allow him to bring forth his legendary beasts. The perfect trap. He was slain causing the world to rejoice and celebrate the freedom of the people. The Tyrant had fallen. The people had won._

 _ **Pshhht**_ \- Ridiculous, they aren't even trying to make it believable. These really are just childish fairy tales…

" **You have been quite busy, one of little faith."**

My head jerked out from between the pages of the book causing it to fall to the floor. I shot to my feet spinning around trying to find whatever it had decided to possess this time. _He won't catch me unaware again!_

"Show yourself!"

As hard as I searched I couldn't find anything or anyone else around me that jumped out.

" **You seem to have landed into dire straits, one of such little faith."** The sound was inside my own head. This time it violated the sanctity of my mind.

"-And I bet I have you to thank for that don't I?!" I said this outloud before realizing if anyone was watching me I'd probably look mad.

" **If you wish to be rescued from hardships and receive salvation, you need only to pray for it."**

I opened my mouth, then chastised myself quickly before answering in my head: _"You expect me to allow you to manipulate me into prayer to leave here? -No. I don't need mercy from such a petty being such as yourself."_

" **You would rather jeopardize your fate than praise my name?"**

" _Lead me not into temptation demon! I make my own way and follow no one. If you are actually 'God', do you intend to deny me my own free will?!"_

" **It would seem you still require convincing… Perhaps you are just not yet ready. Maybe next time..."** The last few words rung inside my head like an echo. I cursed repeatedly, flinging my fists into the wall before me.

" _Maybe-next-time…"_

The skin around my knuckles shred and tore leaving red splotches on the wall, slowly dripping in lines in pursuit of the floor.

 _-I hate you, you damn demon!_ _ **DIE, DIE, DIE! I WILL KILL YOU BEING-X, -JUST YOU WAIT.**_

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

After some time I was retrieved _again_. Tossed into the small investigative room _again_. Being left alone while my ankles were shackled back to my seat once _again_.

 _This place is truly terrible. I just want to leave. I hate their underhanded methods in attempts to break me. Completely unacceptable… but I have to remain sensible. I can't lose my shit while they are evaluating me under such a fine tuned microscope._

I started taking deep breaths in hopes to still the turbulence in my heart - To ease the unease - To calm the storm brewing.

The door flew open impacting the wall with a thunderous roar. I winced as the sound reverberated uncomfortably within my ears. The sinister figure within the black trench coat eyed me maliciously.

 _What the hell is this man's problem?!_

"Mina Hyuga… You've been quite the naughty girl haven't you?" The man's lips curled up after uttering his words.

 _What the hell? Where is this world's Child Protective Agency to protect me from such a lunatic!? And what the hell is wrong with his word choice, does he intend to sound like such a rampaging pedophile?_

"My only question I have is... why? What are your REAL intentions? You don't expect me to believe everything you've done is for everyone else's benefits do you? No one who knows you would ever believe that little girl-"

"-Wha-"

"-Silence! Did I give you permission to talk?"

I shook my head indicating I understood him… My frustration that burned like the sun… was dying underneath the fear that began hatching. _It was impossible to stay calm like this!_

"Seems like you can UNDERSTAND authority, can't you girl? -What can't you hear me girl? **DO YOU UNDERSTAND AUTHORITY?** "

 _This was unfair! HOW UNFAIR! How can he ask questions like this, demand answers, and expect me to not speak up._ _ **FUCK HIM**_ _._

I nodded in acknowledgement against every instinct in my body. My rational mind knew what must be done.

He spun his seat around sitting on it backwards, leading his arms against the back as he stared at my face.

"I'll give you my permission to speak… Girl… So why? Why are we here right now, forcing me to waste my time on a shitstain like yourself?"

I was like a deer caught in the headlights. My mind whirred trying to piece together anything I could say… but I only was able to indignantly gape at the man to which I had no answer. _Who could prepare for this?!_

"You, the so called ' _Prodigy of Prodigies_ ' are staring at me like you're retarded. Are you retarded girl? -Or perhaps you just expect I am?"

I begged with my body language to let me say something. I put my hands together and mustered as much confusion as possible (Which after this display was not difficult at all.)

"Yes? Do you have an answer now? -Speak."

"Your question is far too open ended to understand how I can answer it sir."

His eyes narrowed into slits while his brows furrowed together. I didn't know it was possible, but the man's face became even more unpleasant.

He leapt from his chair, grabbing the backrest and… and... swung it into the wall behind him with so much force and rage. The wooden chair split and fragmented into innumerable pieces that shot across the room. I shut my eyes to protect them from the shrapnel. Splinters had still found their way embedded in my skin all over my body, but my internal alarm blared too loud for my focus to remain on that for longer than a second, demanding me to pay attention to the psychopath before me for my future survival.

H _ow did it come to this? Is this his version of flipping the board? Is this how you play when things don't go according to your plans Ibiki?! Damn you Being-X!_

My eyes shot open, wide with panic, carefully locked onto the man. I couldn't afford to take my eyes off the danger in front of me for long. It seemed fear coursed through my veins in place of blood. My cowardice too strong to fight down using my practiced methods.

"W-w-w-what I-Is G-goin' O-on!?" I shrieked.

That man peered into me with his glance like I were completely transparent. He looked fearful at what he saw. _WHAT DOES HE KNOW?!_

"Have you ever been truthful a day of your miserable life?"

 _No...No I hadn't._

"Of-course!" I lied.

I dared not move… Not a single muscle…

The man scoffed as he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

My legs trembled and I could not still them. My seat had became warm and moist… _I pissed myself?!_ I thought in horror.

I was mortified upon my discovery. I was so very weak. I had not realized it to such an extent until now. I knew it was only a matter of time until I wouldn't be able to hold out against them. They are not born to the same rules for investigators of my last world. Their methods were too extreme and I was woefully unprepared.

Tears welled in my eyes but I had lost the illusion of control I had painted for myself. Ibiki's artistic talents far surpassed my own. He had stripped me from all the beautiful illusions that helped me stay together.

I was ready to cry… I was so close… but the dreadful door opened again to my terror. My lungs sucked in air too quickly and I choked on it, causing a coughing fit that I wasn't recovering from.

 _I'm pathetic… So pathetic…_ I thought while fighting through my breathless hacks.

A firm hand found its way on my shoulder causing me to look at whoever it was.

My stomach lurched.

Ibiki was before me, with his bandanna off and a wide range of scars visible. I couldn't hold it back… A stream of acid shot through my mouth and nose burning both and landing in my lap. If there was any solace that came from that, it was that perhaps he wouldn't have realized I had pissed myself.

"Do you know what unites us all Mina?"

I shook my head no in a panicked frenzy.

"Pain… We are united in pain. I can see we just aren't close enough yet to warrant the truth from you. So let's correct that. Let's experience pain together shall we?"

The trench coat wearing agent bit into skin above his knuckle on his thumb. Blood squirted and leaked from the new wound. He quickly spread blood to his palm. He then struck the ground with the same palm of his hand, causing black ink to travel out like webbing, and a thick cloud of smoke to fill the air.

The smoke got caught in my irritated lungs only sparking a new coughing fit.

Bands extended and wrapped around my body lifting it into the air. The chair I had been sitting in snapped beneath me and all of my appendages were restrained.

A tendril slid beneath my hanging feet and a horrible image appeared in my head.

"We will feel the same pain Mina! Ready yourself!"

I made out the hated figure of the man across me also restrained the same way. A tendril snaked behind him, then launched at him striking his back with a winded _**CRAAACK.**_

A graceless grunt escaped his mouth as his whole body jumped.

 _ **CRAAACK.**_

A searing pain appearing in a line burned from my back. My entire body wanted to escape as I fought against my restraints.

 _ **CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

" **EGHHHAA!** " I screeched. _FUCK!_

"-Aaah!" Ibiki whimpered with teeth clenched still smiling.

 _ **CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

" **Your Insane!** " I screamed. Tears spilling down my face in my torment.

"People say the same thing about you." He spit out between the whip strikes.

 _ **CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

The wounds on my back oozed warm blood, only adding to the incessant fucking dripping in the room.

 _Drip, drip, drip…_ _**CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

I lost all ability to rationally think. I deconstructed into the primal emotions I tried so hard to fight against. I had been soundly and utterly defeated.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Inoichi POV)**

Inoichi Yamanaka stared at the scene in horror at how far Ibiki would go without even any tangible evidence of any treachery. Ibiki would have never gone so far so quickly before. He had always been a cautious man, so how had it come to this?

 _ **CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

The blonde shuddered from the scene. This was terrible. _Why had Mina's statement provoked such a response from him? What connection did he make? Why did he refuse to explain himself? Is this all on a whim? A gut instinct?_

 _ **CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

It was making him sick to even watch the spectacle before him.

"There are some days that this job makes me want to crawl under a rock."

Inoichi straightened his back at the voice sounding behind him. He turned to see an elderly man dressed in white and red garbs.

"Third-sama… Yes, this job occasionally is very difficult to bear."

"The responsibility of countless of lives depend on us. They require that we leave no stone unturned for the protection and well-being of the collective... It's a tragedy that it came to this."

"Sir, do you believe the ends justify the means?"

A pained and tired sigh sounded from the elder. "I've started to question that myself…" His voice was full of years of regret bubbling over into his very words.

The blonde looked back to the orb which no longer displayed the two being whipped. The little girl hung lifelessly from her restrains, unconscious.

Ibiki fell to the floor, the muscles on his back twitching while rasping for breath.

"Medic-nin, go attend to both of them, quickly!" Inoichi barked.

The man scurried out the room at a breakneck pace, soon appearing inside the ball while administering a green glow by touch to the still restrained unconscious girl.

 _Are they really any closer to cracking her? Wasn't she already cracked by his first display? She had even wet herself before he went back in for the kill. It seemed counterproductive that he would do things this way._

In fact, It made no sense, but now that Ibiki was head of the special division, he himself didn't have the power to stop the man. He could only help her from the shadows, like when he slipped some reading material into her cell.

 _Why has it come to this? - and why so quickly?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, this T.I. arc thankfully only has one more chapter to go. Afterward the events leading up to the Uchiha Massacre will soon follow. I've been wanting to write this part of the story from chapter 1, but just had to get here so I'm super excited.

 **Reviewer Question: - Who would you pair/ship with our MC, and why?**

 _***I'm attaching this to every chapter until someone answers me LOL***_

 _(If you wouldn't ship anyone, you can just as well say no'one and explain your reason as well!)_

 **I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-Homarid**_

 _ **-SteveTheBeast**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_


	23. Chapter 19

**Article 23 - Chapter 19 - An Addition To My List**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _I've got some more of the story edited, but I plan on doing a large update later all at once, and here I've got another chapter for you guys! These last two chapters have been very difficult for me to write. Feel like writing all the characters was like tiptoeing through a minefield… blindfolded. Hard enough without some extra dumb-shit to add to it, but whatever. I'm not particularly proud of this chapter, but I can finally finish up the T.I. Arc here and be done with it! ~YES!_

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

" **Your Insane!** " I screamed. Tears spilling down my face in my torment.

"People say the same thing about you." He spit out between the whip strikes.

 _ **CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

The wounds on my back oozed warm blood, only adding to the incessant fucking dripping in the room.

 _Drip, drip, drip…_ _**CRAAACK. CRAAACK.**_

I lost all ability to properly think. I deconstructed into the primal emotions I tried so hard to fight against. I had been soundly and utterly defeated.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 19 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

My body felt so heavy. Like just moving it was an accomplishment of merit. My muscles seized and faltered. My commands being read sloppily and executed with minimal force. The skin around my wrists and ankles were sore and raw, the tenderness and inflammation a testament to my mistreatment.

 _What the hell is wrong with people in this world?_

I laid outstretched on the cold grey stone floor of the interrogation room. It was home to many scattered wood splints which sat atop it. I pulled myself along the floor, inching closer to the corner of the room. I wanted something to prop myself up with as well as a way to make sure nothing was behind me.

The haze in my mind hung over me like a fog. It felt unreal… like the entire situation was simply fictional, but my body and flashbacks grounded me to the reality.

 _Drip... Drip... Drip..._

"Urrrughh" The unfeminine grunt leapt from my mouth as I pulled against the floor… ever approaching the corner.

My fingers trembled without end. I was working on the fumes of pure willpower. The draft met with my exposed back causing a chilling sensation that I welcomed over the burn of pain. My clothing, especially on my back, was shredded and in tatters. The material in the back clung together with clumps of dried blood only barely. At the very least they hadn't stripped me before the whipping, which was the only silver lining I could think of at this time.

I wasn't skittish about my body or exposing myself, but the very idea of my privacy possibly being taken away forcibly left unpleasant thoughts swirling about inside my head.

 _Just a little further…_

The metallic _clank_ of the door opening behind me caused a surge of adrenaline to perk me into a much more alert state. I struggled quickly to sit up while driving my feet into the floor, scooting backwards - toward the comfort of the walls.

The black trench coat that haunted me appeared in my vision. My body acted of its own accord, moving my limbs in front of me. It was a completely useless action, but rationality at the moment wasn't my strong suit.

I tried to separate myself from this man using any method possible. I peered through the cracks of my arms, and the gap between my knees to still make out where the man was, never allowing myself to lose track of him.

He took heavy steps with faulty balance towards myself…

My heart thumped hard while racing in my chest - _**Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up. Boo'd Up.**_

My ears only could make out the thumping of blood in my head.

My teeth clenched together despite my jaw quivering, causing a shameful chatter I could faintly make out.

"-Duru ramble at last bring through shed the door passing doubt?" The blood pounding in the side of my head made it very difficult to distinguish the mans words without looking at his face…

I cracked my arms apart further to catch up to the man's nose within my vision.

"Huh?" I asked.

"-Do you remember the last thing you said before passing out?" He repeated.

I racked my mind to fetch the memory, but try as i might, I couldn't locate it.

"No…" I responded honestly.

He stood in place for a moment… Quiet. After a long pause, he took another step forward… and another…

 _NO! NOT AGAIN! ANYTHING BUT MORE~_ "Please! I'm sorry, please no more, please!"

"Would you like to know what you told me?!" The man thundered.

 _What could I have said!? I might have said anything to make it stop, I just can't remember!_

" **I faked my kidnapping so that I could leave the village.** " Ibiki Shouted. He cleared his throat while clenching a fist before finishing with: " **Are these the actions of a** _ **so-called**_ **patriot!?"**

My heart sunk in my chest… _I could have said anything to this man and that's what I said? Certainly it's not the worst thing I could have confessed to, but It also wasn't the best. In any case, this isn't good..._

"You know, I'm inclined to believe that might be the first truthful thing you've ever told me." Ibiki said.

"I-I-I-I… J-just... wanted to escape my clan… But then as I was gaining distance and about to leave… I thought of Ayasha-san… and Neji-kun… and-and- I decided I couldn't leave."

"Really?" He said with voice full of curiosity. "I thought we were past the point of lies and deceit, but If you want some more _BONDING_ time with me, I understand completely." His last words breaking down my mental resistance I had been rushing to construct...

" **NO! Wait!"** I screamed. _What the hell can I tell this man!?_

" _ **WHAT WILL HE BELIEVE**_?!" I thought desperately attempting to wrack my brain. _ANYTHING!? I need something!_

"... yes?" Ibiki said.

"I was afraid… Too afraid to die to my seal… Too afraid to have it all end while I held no control. I just couldn't go through with it…"

Ibiki crouched down, taking a seat on the floor across from me. He peered through the cracks I was using to peek through making eye contact.

"I think that's the most believable thing I've heard you say yet." He whispered, his face softening as he finished.

 _Really?!_

"But… I really did love Ayasha-san… I didn't know it at the time… But when she died, I completely realized it -or-or maybe I just was trying to lie to myself and I knew the whole time... **How could I have been so stupid all this time!?** " The last part I wailed.

I pulled at the strands of hair locked in my grasp in a frenzy while my eyes clenched together. " **AAAAAHH!** "

I found myself unable to pull any further, I struggled to pull and pull, and after opening my eyes I realized why the arms refused to budge.

Ibiki's hands had found themselves around my wrists… his piercing Onyx eyes searching my own.

"Sometimes… It takes losing what we have to truly appreciate it. Humans are fickle creatures like that." He said with more sincerity than I believed he was capable of.

I knew as much, his words didn't ease my heart, nor would I let them… _He was the enemy._

"-So then you staged a battle and returned?" He asked for clarification.

"-yesh, I-I staged a confrontation so that I would be welcomed back in the village… I even hoped that people would see it as heroic…"

His eyes continued to peer into me. I would tell no lies from this point onward. I could just refuse to tell them the damning details.

"Hmm… So why did you want to escape the village?"

"I… don't seem to have any allies. The own village's ninjas survey me every day. I couldn't understand why they would do such a thing… They must have seen me as a threat… I feared for my personal safety… Then on top of that my clan plans to enslave me to the main family. I'm being shaped into lady Hinata-sama's personal bodyguard and assassin… and other than Hiashi-sama and Hinata-sama, the entirety of the main branch sees me as lower than dirt… I fully believe they may conspire to kill me one day."

None of my words were a lie. They all were observations I had made, or things I was told. They were the reality of the clan.

"I always trained so I could become the first S ranked Ninja from the Hyuga, but I realized that the clan did everything in its power to prevent me from doing that exact thing… I'm of the side branch, and how would the main branch look if some side-branch kid rose to greater power than our clan head? -They will not allow it."

The words that had been damned inside my head came flooding out with terrifying vigour. I was certain these traitorous thoughts were going to get me killed… executed…

 _well it was… not a fun life… My only regrets were that I didn't spend more time with the people that mattered most to me…_

I fought against the lump in my throat… Finally swallowing. "... I'm going to be executed aren't I?"

Ibiki's eyes widened at my words. I didn't know what that meant… whether he was surprised that I realized my position, or what was going on in that psychotic head of his.

"Will… Will it be painful?" I asked. I fought back the tears starting to swell… My heart had settled after finally being able to tell someone what I thought. Even if it wasn't all of it, I wouldn't incriminate myself any further. If I admitted to much more, I wouldn't likely get a humane execution.

In a flash, my face flung sideways with a _CLAAAP_. My cheek stung with new pain while my brain struggled to make sense of what had just happened.

 _I was... slapped?_ I concluded.

I looked back to see the face of Ibiki caught between rage and sorrow. Tears slid down his cheeks even as he grit his teeth and managed to look menacing.

He raised his hand again… but the slap did not come. Instead, he pushed off the floor, and hobbled to the door, opening it and stepping through before inevitably slamming it shut behind him.

I was so confused… why did he look like that? What, you expect me to think you have a heart now or something bastard?! We're long past that. I know my situation, you guys don't give a damn about me.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Some time later, Inoichi entered the room. His face could not hide his own unhappiness despite his obvious effort to remain stoic. he questioned me, relentless on the details. He wanted me to tell him the whole story, starting from the end and making my way backward to the beginning events of my escape.

He kept asking me one thing over and over. "Did you see anyone else?"

"Yes… I saw several Ninja's outside the village that I managed to hide from along my travels."

"What did they look like? Can you remember any distinct features?" He kept asking.

 _Why did they keep drilling me on this?! Oh shit! It's because of my lie about the Anbu… they are trying to figure out why I made up the lie about the foundation Anbu… on no, oh no, oh no! I fucked up, how the hell can I even explain that!?_

My face must have betrayed me and slipped displaying my horror. Inoichi's eyes lit up having recognized this.

"Yes!? You remembered something?" He asked.

"Well… I saw an Anbu prowling around. I had managed to hide myself and he hadn't noticed me… at least I thought…" I lied.

"Is that the reason you included Anbu in your first version of your story?"

 _I took a second to think carefully before responding. I can't keep lying or I'll be stuck here forever!_

"...no. I thought it would make it seem more credible. -And even the Anbu didn't seem to detect me, so I figured escaping from an Anbu wouldn't have been so far-fetched."

"-DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT MASK THEY WORE?"

"I'm sorry… I can't remember. I was afraid to use my byakugan due to the potential chakra I would leak." I answered.

Inoichi's knuckles tightened as he tightened the grip of his interlocking hands.

"This is very important… Mina, this is a matter of village security. If you lie about this you will be branded a traitor for certain. At this point you can still be redeemed."

 _My eyes widened at his words. What does he mean? This made up Anbu member has them so spooked, why? What happened outside these walls?_

Mina, I need the truth. I'm going to ask you one question, and even though this goes against the villages code's and it poses mental trauma on someone as young as yourself, It's 100% necessary. Do you understand? You can never be released until you answer this question.

 _What the hell. What have I done!? I made up some fictional Anbu and now he's going to know it's a complete lie. I'm done! I'm finished! Completely FUCKED!_

"I'm going to use the weakest version of the jutsu in my disposal so I can confirm with certainty that the answer you give me is truthful. Do you understand? You need only to answer with the word 'Yes', or 'No'."

Well... him only being able to distinguish the truth, and allowing me to simply answer yes or no limits the type of knowledge he could gleam with this method, but the way he's so unsteady asking me makes me very uneasy.

"You might think that fighting against this Jutsu means that you will be branded a traitor, but it will not. If you do not struggle against the jutsu and attempt to resist, there is a higher risk of permanent damage. Therefore you are allowed to fight against it with all your might, but try as you might, I will still be able to distinguish the truth." The blonde said.

 _What? They are going to use such a dangerous jutsu on me despite the risks? They are even allowing me to fight against it?_

"Mina… are you ready?" Inoichi asked.

 _NO!? Definitely not! Certainly not! I will never be ready!_

"Yes." I lied.

He stared deeply into my eyes, and then slowly raised his hands to his face. He made the strangest hand sign, peering his eyes through the gap between his hands.

" **Have you ever made contact with Orochimaru?"**

Pain seared through my entire head. The nerves behind my eyes felt like they were tied into knots and the front of my brain twitched about inside my head. The unpleasantness of it all was only slightly more bearable than when I received the caged bird curse seal.

 _Had I made contact with Orochimaru? What? No._

"No." I spit through grit teeth.

The pain vanished after my words, and I fell forward, catching myself on the table, gasping.

"It appears that you had nothing to do with Ayasha's murder then." He spoke out in happiness.

I couldn't piece together anything. My head still hurt even if the worst of it was over.

Inoichi looked relieved at my answer and practically danced his way over to the door. Before pulling the door open, he peered back at me, now pulling his face into a more serious shape again.

"Mina… the man who murdered Ayasha-san was none other than Orochimaru. I'm so sorry that we did this to you. We couldn't be sure that you weren't working for him up until now. The fact that you broke out of the village, and days later He broke in disguised as Ayasha Hyuga couldn't simply be overlooked. I personally would like to apologize for your treatment. You have had quite a difficult life."

 _Orochimaru? ... Orochimaru killed Ayasha?! -_ _ **I'LL FUCKING MURDER HIM**_ _. I'LL-I'LL-I'LL GUT HIM LIKE A FISH WITH ALL MY STRENGTH! WHEN I GAIN POWER, I WILL HAVE HIM BEG FOR MY MERCY BEFORE I-_

The pain swelling in my head stopped me from continuing my rage induced visions and thoughts. I whimpered ungracefully before moving my fingers up to massage the sore tender area right at the bottom of my forehead where the bridge of my nose ended or began. (depending on your outlook.)

 _Tears streamed onto the table. Why do I always cry? Am I so incompetent that all I can do is wallow in tears? Doe's the act of crying actually even help? Does it make me feel better? Do I want to feel better? - No. I just want to kill, I want to murder that man. He had made_ _ **my list**_ _._

 _ **#1 - Being-X**_

 _ **#2 - Orochimaru**_

 _I will spend the entirety of my life to destroy these people. I will do whatever it takes. Whatever sacrifices are necessary ~ I'll gladly make them. If I had to walk over the corpses of all of the people I had ever came to care for just to do it, I would._ I had made up my mind, and nothing will stop me.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Hiruzen POV)**

"I believe she has been put through enough. What are your opinions?" The Sandaime spoke, looking first to the head of the Torture and Interrogation, and then it's former head.

"Mina Hyuga is deeply disturbed, that of course there can be no doubt. However, It is of my personal opinion that she poses little threat to our village... -But I believe she posses the greatest threat to herself and her clan, which is unlikely due to her seal." The blonde answered with steely unwavering words.

"-She is quite the abnormality. I saw a great sense of fury and hatred from her at Orochimaru's mention. It disturbed me originally how similar I believed them to be, but I can see now that my first deduction was incorrect. I believe she does pose a latent danger to the village, but I also believe she has much more to potentially offer to the village. Perhaps her patriotic words were not so farfetched despite her deeply ingrained but well hidden cowerice." Ibiki finished.

The two looked to each other and gave the other a silent nod of approval. Their mission had been completed, and much sooner than the timetable they had been given.

Even at his trusted companions words, the fire in the old man's heart wasn't snuffed out entirely. He was the Hokage, and appearances needed to be maintained however…

"I see… So it is of your opinion that miss Hyuga-kun should be released to her clan?"

Inoichi took a deep breath while taking a step forward. "I believe after some psychological reconditioning, she will be able to be reintroduced to her clan. ~Yes."

"Hmmm…" The elder hummed while stroking the white tufts growing from his chin. "-And Ibiki, you share this position?"

"I think she still has things she hasn't told us, however instead of prying them out by force, we should entrust her with responsibility to strengthen her ties to the leaf. Even if she may not grow complacent inside her clan, If we remind her that this is her home and that she can trust her superiors, that she can change. She is only 6 years of age and has always been forced to look out for her own self-interest. I saw her regret of this self-interest inside her when mentioning her sentiments toward Ayasha Hyuga, and I think these same regrets are what caused her to inflict harm on herself." The professionalism of his speech was uptight and absolute, until faltering with the last few sentences. Emotion entering his voice.

Ibiki raised his fist to his chest, pumping it over the heart. "She is just a little girl after all…"

The Sandaime was astonished at the display of emotion from the head of T.I. He was not a man known to become attached to any of his captives. Perhaps the troubles plaguing his old heart were unfounded. Perhaps they were just whispers of the paranoia he's needed in order to survive this long. Perhaps in this day and age, He needed to lead with a softer touch.

"I see… Yes, well certainly if both of you think so, then there is nothing to worry about. Thank you for your perseverance in the face of such a difficult task. I extend my sincerest apologies to both of you for putting you through this."

"Absolutely not." Ibiki answered back with sternness in his voice. "You're suspicions were well founded, It is a blessing that her only intention was desertion, and that she turned around before the situation escalated."

The fire that smoldered like the sun, had since settled into a small ember, only casting a shadow of minuscule doubt in his heart. _The girl wasn't quite right._ It whispered to him.

He buried this thought deep within him. Stressing over the youth wasn't befitting of his status. He would leave his doubts behind until a later date. Today, they would console a heartbroken child which was long past due.

"Get her some fresh clothes, a warm meal, and some tender care. God knows she deserves it." He said.

The two men in his presence flashed small smiles. "Yes Third-sama!" They spoke in unison.

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, this T.I. arc thankfully is over. At long last. I was struggling to find the motivation to write this part of the story, and finally we can get the ball rolling and get to SOME GOOD STUFF. " _MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_ the events leading up to the Uchiha Massacre will follow. I've been wanting to write this UPCOMING part of the story from chapter 1, so now that I'm basically there, I'm super excited. I've been working on side projects a bit as well. I'm about to release the first chapter of a Yu-gi-oh GX fanfiction likely alongside the next chapter of this fanfiction. Anyone interested I urge to check it out and share your anticipation! **I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

 **Reviewer Question: - Which Non-OC Character that I've written do you think is truest/closest to their Canon representation? (And Why?)**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 **-jake -** **"** Thank you my boy jake. Don't short sell yourself though. I believe in you." (IRL friend heh)

 **-Scintilla-Ish - "** I'm a fellow Youjo Senki Lover! Certainly my inspiration for the story."

 **-Zdraco -** **"** Thanks for your support. I don't have any concrete shippings, but Kakashi is a wee old for her, even if they might realistically be of similar mental age. It's not a pairing I can see happening logically."

 **-SteveTheBeast** _ **-**_ **"** I will neither confirm or deny the existence of any foreshadowing for a summoning contract! Haha."

 **-Irina Akashira** _ **-**_ _"Thanks for your continued support. You've been around since basically the beginning!"_

 **-XenonDark - "** _I can't confirm any concrete pairing, but I can confirm there will be at least a wee bit of Mina X Hinata fluff in store for you in the future."_

 **-** **Mysterious Goat -** **"** Thanks for the compliment of his characterization. He was very difficult for me to write. Glad someone enjoyed it!"


	24. Chapter 20

**Article 24 - Chapter 20 - The Stretching of 'Uncaged' Wings**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _I've been falling behind schedule lately and procrastinating like crazy lol. When I was a senior of high school, I managed to do the entirety of my Senior Project - (an assignment we knew about since freshman year, that required signed hours, a speech, and a research paper.) - in four days before the deadline. This should wake you to my chronic procrastinative nature haha. I've been sitting around catching up on Boruto lately funnily enough. ~But enough about me, let's get to the chapter!_

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 _Orochimaru? ... Orochimaru killed Ayasha?! -_ _ **I'LL FUCKING MURDER HIM**_ _. I'LL-I'LL-I'LL GUT HIM LIKE A FISH WITH ALL MY STRENGTH! WHEN I GAIN POWER, I WILL HAVE HIM BEG FOR MY MERCY BEFORE I-_

The pain swelling in my head stopped me from continuing my rage induced visions and thoughts. I whimpered ungracefully before moving my fingers up to massage the sore tender area right at the bottom of my forehead where the bridge of my nose began.

Tears streamed onto the table. _Why do I always cry? Am I so incompetent that all I can do is wallow in tears? Doe's the act of crying actually even help? Does it make me feel better? Do I want to feel better? - No. I just want to kill, I want to murder that man. He had made_ _ **my list**_ _._

 _ **#1 - Being-X**_

 _ **#2 - Orochimaru**_

 _I will spend the entirety of my life to destroy these people. I will do whatever it takes. Whatever sacrifices are necessary ~ I'll gladly make them. If I had to walk over the corpses of all of the people I had ever came to care for just to do it, I would._ I had made up my mind, and nothing will stop me.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 20 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Ibiki POV)**

The brush graced across the paper in fluid short bursts documenting the events and findings within the mission report. Ibiki stared at the paper reading it over for any mistakes. Documenting simple 'Typo' errors had potential catastrophic consequences. The village must be armed with factual information to establish precedence.

The sound of footsteps approaching caused Ibiki to slide the paper into a leather bound book, closing it. He turned his attention to the doorway where two familiar faces appeared moments later.

"Ibiki, I'd like you to be a witness to my offer to young Mina-chan."

Ibiki quickly nodded in understanding. "As you wish Third-sama."

The sandaime reached out, pulling two chairs off the ground from the corner of the room, and set them facing each other. "Please take a seat Mina-chan."

The child watched the adults tentatively, witnessing the elder bend down, planting his ass in the chair, before inevitably following suit. The dark bags under her eyes and disjointed posture unable to hide her rubbish personal condition.

"As the Third Hokage of this village, I'm extending you an offer to break your ties with the Hyuga clan and establish a new sect of the Kaguya clan within the interior of the hidden leaf. You may become the clan head and even hold a seat at the clan council meetings which appealed directly to the Hokage, myself."

Mina's eyes shot wide open, shining with the essence of hope. She made a motion to speak, but the elder quickly continued: "This of course requires you to rise to the rank of Jonin first as that is the prerequisite holding rank to establish yourself as a true clan head, as well as a seated council member."

The excitement inside the child's eyes seemed to be extinguished. _It's no wonder, at her age that likely feels like an eternity, heh._

Ibiki leaned against the wall, successfully managing to fight back a grin, content with only overseeing the proceedings.

"... I see. So once I am of Jonin rank I will be allowed to establish my own clan from my father's lineage? -I understand."

"I offer this to you… under the assumption you will become my eyes into the Hyuga clan's precessions. You must prove your loyalty to your village by prioritizing it's well-being over that of your clan. This stipulation is non-negotiable."

The gears turning inside the child's head seemed to click into motion, her white irises sharpening into focus. Ibiki bearing witness to the wisdom that swelled within her - well beyond her years.

"I understand and accept. I will become your eyes and ears into the Hyuga third-sama."

"No hesitation? You do not wish to take time to consider the offer?" The Sandaime asked expecting confirmation.

"I have no problems prioritizing the needs of the village over any selfish desires of the main branch. The clan is a relic from before the establishment of hidden villages and is in need of reform. No, I have no problems with this Third-sama."

Not a trace of the deceit that had shown itself during their interrogations were evident. A fantastic step forward despite the harsh conditions she was exposed to due to the villages priorities. She is indeed mature well beyond her age.

"Wonderful. We'll be counting on you. You're reporting callsign will be 'Silver-Wing,' and you'll need to report to an Anbu handler in order to send your reports to myself or establish meetings in extenuating circumstances. We can discuss this at a later date at length, but as for now, you are free to leave. This conversation is classified as an "S" ranked secret, and disclosure of any of its contents is tantamount to high treason. You are being trusted with village secrets because the maturity and vision you have displayed. This includes the fact you were interrogated and any of the information you might have learned from the interrogation. You're cover story will be that you received psychological therapy and that you were sworn to secrecy to protect the Yamanaka secrets." The elder said.

The girl seemed to take in the information splendidly, acknowledging and understanding her duty. A flame of determination ignited in her eyes, telling of her desire to prove herself. _Maybe a patriot isn't so far off huh… perhaps she will even become the 'Itachi' of the Hyuga._

The elder lead the girl out of the room, and the T.I. division head turned his attention back to the leather bound book sitting atop his desk. Thumbing at the pages until landing at the book-marker he had been looking for, his mission report.

His eyes' glazed over the document another time to be sure of it's lack of errors.

 **...**

" _All three mission objectives were achieved within the allotted time period. The subject was subjected to standard procedure but managed to reverse the interrogation to her own pace. After gathering enough intel, I initiated advanced pain interrogation tactics to reclaim the initiative and effectively break the will of the subject. Through the duration of the interrogation I've determined that:_

 _(1) - She was not working for or in contact with the missing nin - Orochimaru, and that she had not willingly assisted him in his entry into the village. This information was confirmed by the use of a Yamanaka hidden jutsu. It appears no evidence of lasting damage upon inspection could be found from the use of the jutsu._

 _(2) - Her psychological state was warped due to mental trauma and stress. It is unclear whether this development will lead to additional psychopathic tendencies but her visit to Neji Hyuga paired with her emotion upon discovery of the death and assailant of Ayasha Hyuga indicate deep bonds she has established with others. I recommend placing her within a position of trust within the village to form additional bonds to instigate the awakening of the will of fire._

 _(3) - The Hyuga were suspected of giving Mina special training which could be used against the leaf village. After investigation, no evidence was found commemorating this suspicion. The subject had clashing ideologies from that of her clan making her an ideal counter intelligence agent. This could very well be a ploy to install a double agent among our ranks, but the likelihood is minuscule, and only risks the potential exposure of the village's distrust, She doesn't have any truly incriminating intel or evidence._

 _Signed: ~Ibiki Morino"_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

The twists and turns of the passageways and corridors of the buildings had caused me to lose my sense of direction, luckily I wasn't leading the way. I followed behind the form of a chunin tasked with bringing me the the exit.

I was impatient to leave, but at the same time incredibly happy that I was about to leave - to escape. I couldn't wait. My excitement was read by the man leading me and I heard him chuckle under his breath which only served to piss me off. _Let's see you go through what I just did and see how well you come out of it._

My access to my chakra had been restored like a great weight lifted from me. I never exactly took my chakra for granted, but I appreciated the true sentiment of having my power back. I wouldn't allow myself to ever give it away again under any circumstances.

The walls began opening up into larger rooms. A grandiose chandelier hung in the lobby with small windows at the highest points in the room that let natural light in, being reflected off the mirror-like shards. I hadn't been able to appreciate the beauty of this during my entry, but now as I left I couldn't help but to appreciate it with silent awe.

A familiar chakra appeared around me and my heart lurched. I spun on a heel, now facing the man approaching me. A look of thankfulness and relief painted across his face. He accelerated towards myself, pulling me into an embrace. The human memento left behind by Ayasha… Tokuma Hyuga.

"Are you alright? Have you been eating well?"

I couldn't properly suppress the swelling emotions within me. I didn't want to have another shameful display so all I allowed myself to do was nod energetically to his questions.

"What… happened to the clothes you came in with?"

My wardrobe had completely changed thanks to the clothing T.I. had completely ruined. I remembered something Ayasha had told me shortly before … -not long ago- " _Those clothes are getting a bit small for you. I'll need to take you shopping again soon."_

"I was growing out of them… So they let me wear these." I lied.

Tokuma's face scrunched together from my terrible lie, not believing it even for a second. _I hadn't actually been prepared for such a question. Why? -I'm just not of my right mind at the moment._

I clasped the man's hand, interlocking my fingers with his, and began tugging him along so we could leave. He understood my intentions and let me lead us out of this damn building.

I didn't know what I expected honestly. I didn't really think ahead, instead being fully absorbed in the moment. We reached the clan compound and a number of the side branch members welcomed me warmly. They were happy to see that I had been in one piece, which just goes to show telling people that I had only been held for psychological therapy would certainly be a stretch.

A group of Hyuga from the main branch watched my return without a shred of sympathy or compassion. In fact, they looked peeved that I had the gall to return at all. I brushed it off as their classic demeanor towards myself.

Then my eyes caught the figure of Neji skulking around the outer edges of the people, giving me cowardly glances and refusing to hold eye contact - also refusing to come any closer.

I broke away from the crowds, politely excusing myself from Tokuma despite his opinions. I signed to Neji to meet with me, his reluctance evident by his turmoil over the decision. I signed again, shooting him pleading looks. I visibly saw when he had finally caved, his shoulders sinking with the sigh that no doubt escaped him.

I trotted over the cobblestone pathways making my way to the destination. For the last stretch I turned around and began walking backwards, keeping an eye on the boy who had still kept his distance, his face hanging lifelessly watching his own feet. _He looks so guilty..._

He wouldn't escape my advances. He was in too sorry of a state to fight me off. I ran at him causing him to pull his head up and evaluate the situation. I crashed into him, wrapping my arms around him so tightly he couldn't fight me off. If he were in peak condition it would have been more difficult to capture him in my embrace, but I knew I was powerful enough to still get the job done if he had protested.

"I'm sorry." I panted.

His whole body shook like a tree trying to withstand a hurricane. "NO! I'm the one that needs to apologize! I left you when you needed me most… and that is unforgivable. I'm terribly sorry."

His arms wrapped around my back and I secretly hoped he would never let go. Never leave me all alone again. My chin rested on his shoulder, instinctively nuzzling my cheek against his neck. The warmth melting away the unease that plagued my heart. I could feel his pulse on my cheek, the comforting rhythm of his heart soothing my own.

It was as if a heavy fog was lifted and daylight finally broke through the long night. The seemingly endless night was over, I was home.

"You're here now, so shut up and just hold me." My frail voice whispered into his ear.

Tears ran down my cheek and I selfishly wiped them on his shoulder. " _He owed me this much"_ I told myself.

"I'm so sorry…" I heard him whimper.

I leaned back slightly, so that I could peer into his eyes. He looked heavily conflicted and I could tell holding my eye contact was greatly difficult for him. "Neji, your the most important person in my life now. I hope you take responsibility."

His eyes watered, but the tears were being damned by his willpower. His face flushed and chin quivered uncontrollably. He tried saying something afew times, but the words were caught in his throat. He embarrassingly cleared his throat, giving it another shot. "I'll never let you down again." He promised.

I was overwhelmed. I didn't need to think. My mind actually went blank at his statement. It sounds dumb right? An 8 year old comforting you with an empty promise? It probably should have just made me mad - right? But it didn't… It made me feel incredible. Secure. Confident. Loved. Special. It made me feel so many things, like I was being washed over with positivity. The feeling was indescribable. _I don't know if I had ever felt this way before - Actually I doubted it. This feeling was something entirely new._

"Thank you." I cried.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The next day, I returned to school hoping I could pretend like nothing happened. The constant stares of the children around me were a bit unsettling but in the end meaningless. If I couldn't handle being a social outcast I had much bigger problems in store for me. I became the hushed talk of the entire classroom, but as time continued, it slowly burned out. I refused to acknowledge the dissonance I caused, and let the harmony gradually settle. These kids are 8 and on average, didn't have exceptional attention spans. Things just melded into normalcy by the end of the day.

I favored to sit by Neji for the day, so I could avoid the unwanted attention and still had someone I could talk to if necessary. Lee ended up approaching me on break trying to cheer me up. It was kind of cute despite knowing how uncomfortable he was. I was the girl everyone had heard had attempted suicide, and despite this Lee was content talking about the most random of things. It became clear to me nearly immediately what was going on.

I smiled and played along… until Lee's excitement dwindled and his lip curled. This was a new look for him, Even when being bullied he didn't ever look this dejected.

"Do you remember… The first time you called me 'Your Rival?'" He asked.

"Of course. Your rivalry means alot to me." I answered with fake cheer, hoping to avoid where I expected the conversation was headed.

"When you first said that… It made me really happy. That someone else believed in me… I was really thankful. But now - I know it's not good enough."

"What?!" I choked out, having awkwardly swallowed some saliva.

"I realized that it wasn't good enough! You hear me?! So we need to become Eternal Rivals! You're not allowed to die, and neither am I." Lee shouted with conviction, an inferno blazing within his eyes.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. I knew that it was probably insensitive, but I laughed all the same. He looked a bit dejected and confused because of it, but I slapped his shoulder and this time shone a brilliant smile his way, a real one.

"It seems I was thinking too small. You know, in some ways you are certainly a genius. I'll be proud to call you my eternal rival." I exclaimed.

A look that would be hard pressed to be called anything but that of 'pure joy' spread across his face. He grabbed my hands jumping up and down beaming. "You mean it? You're not pulling my leg are you? Y-You really mean it?" Tears streaming from his eyes.

"Of-course!" I responded.

He leapt from the ground high, punching a fist into the air. His over-enthusiasm was a bit taxing, but that was just Lee's style, and that's perfectly fine. _Never change Lee_. _.. Please never change._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I made my way to leave the academy, but couldn't help feel like someone was following behind me. "Byakugan!" I surveyed the area, and after moving again I quickly discovered that my concern was reality.

The young Uchiha was following behind me looking a bit upset while skulking about attempting to not be noticed. _He has quite a ways to go before being a full fledged ninja_ \- I thought exasperated.

"Uchiha-kun!" I shouted spinning on my heel.

His head jerked from behind a bush flushed red. "I-I.." He stammered.

"You were just going to take me up on my secret training?" I asked, a devious smile spreading across my face.

He seemed thankful enough for the out I provided him without meaning to make it obvious. "The Byakugan are quite remarkable." He responded before rubbing at his neck, readopting his mask of stoicism quickly.

""I suppose joint training would be educational - If we are allowed." I repeated in monotone, sure to emphasize the lack of any emotion behind the words.

Sasuke's eyes lit up understanding the joke, quickly snorting while his lips pulled into a sneer. "Don't you know it's _FAR_ easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission?" He mimicked mockingly.

I couldn't restrain the girlish giggle that snuck it's way out. I glanced over to the Uchiha to gauge his reaction. He was looking pretty smug even if he was fighting down his urge to giggle with me.

"My brother has been helping me with my kunai training lately, you should see how awesome he is." He beamed.

"Itachi - right?"

He nodded energetically, finishing with: "I hope I can be as great of ninja as him one day." I stopped in place at his words, causing him to pause and turn around with interest. "Hn?"

"I know you won't believe me, but I know you will surpass him if you really want to."

Sasuke just blankly stared at me for a moment before grinning. "Yeah? -and how would you know?" he teased.

"Obviously, I have supernatural powers that allow me to deduce it from a glance." I playfully said.

He waved off my words, picking up the pace as he lead us into the forest. "The training area elder brother showed me is up here. Just a little further."

* * *

 **…**

Both of us panted for air. Sasuke's pants more heavy and labored much to his own dejection. I had beat him in every set of kunai target practice rounds except for one. I had been training with kunai for quite a long time, but Sasuke was more proficient than I had expected.

I could see visible improvement after each set which honestly upset me a bit. He just learns so quickly! If I don't remain diligent he could very well surpass me and who knows how many years of diligent practice and experience I was ahead of him.

It made me honestly feel inferior to him which didn't sit well with me, however if I focused on being better than him in every way I would neglect specialization. Even if I let him surpass me in some areas, as long as combat wise I remained stronger that would be enough.

We leaned against two tree's across from each other trying to rest and hydrate ourselves. I noticed something was eating at him despite his refusal to bring it up. _He was the type of person to keep his struggles to himself, an introvert, not unlike myself normally._

"What's on your mind?" I asked, fully expecting to regret asking, but doing so anyways because strained relations would be troublesome.

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" He retorted.

 _You can't really be that clueless, can you? -_ I thought

"I don't know. Perhaps my supernatural powers alerted me… or maybe it was actually my more simplistic powers of observation." I teased.

He remained quiet… seemingly mulling something over in that head of his. He stared at me for a while and I wanted to hit him for subjecting me to _that stare_.

"I heard a rumor." He finally said.

 _Oh no… Fucking fantastic. I'm lucky there is only 3 people I even feel like befriending in my class because if another person brings it up I will literally kick their head off!_ Some of my animosity must have leaked out because he looked like he was reconsidering the conversation at all.

"Sorry… It's a difficult topic." I said, causing Sasuke to slowly nod in understanding. "I didn't try to kill myself. I was not dealing with my Mo- with the death of a loved one well at all. I created a shadow clone to strangle myself so I'd pass out… I just wanted a different pain to cover up my loss. It was idiotic and stupid."

His eyes widened displaying a pain I didn't quite understand. _He shouldn't really know the burden of loss yet, why does he look like that?_

"I see… So you weren't trying to kill yourself? -It was a misunderstanding?" He asked.

"Correct. -But I've went through psychological therapy and it's helped me adjust."

 _This was it. This was my chance to make a big play. To plant seeds to nurture at a later day. It had to be now, while he was looking so pathetic. There was no better time._

"...I found out who killed her... listen good because this is a secret and I won't say it again kay? -I'm making it my life mission to destroy this person. This person is the face of evil and has killed countless of people without remorse. He is a war criminal, a missing nin, and a blight upon this world. I will erase him with my full prejudice."

The Uchiha's mouth fell open at my words, staring at me first with disbelief, but quickly pulled together his composure. His eyes scanned mine looking for something. _Maybe he was trying to see if I was lying to him, or checking my resolve. The flames of hatred burned endlessly inside me. I could tell he saw them, he looked unnerved and… perhaps even a bit impressed by my display._

"I understand. If I were in your position, I think... I'd likely do the same." He replied honestly.

 _Yes! That went splendidly. Perfect. How I'll just lie in wait until his whole clan is massacred. You will become my instrument Sasuke Uchiha. You will bend to my will._

I fought back the urge to laugh. It would probably only make me look insane. _I need to hold all my cards close to the chest on this one. I finally have a bit of control, I'll never let it go again._

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, Sorry, but I haven't been able to finish the first chapter of my: **Yu-gi-oh GX fanfiction.** Next chapter's release will be paired with chapter 1 of the Yu-gi-oh fic so sorry! Anyone interested I urge to check it out and share your anticipation! **I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.**

 **Reviewer Question: \- You can only be born with 1 Kekkei Genkai from Naruto **(never allowed to have another one even through experimentation/transplants/ect…) **Which one would you pick?** _(This makes the EMS, Tenseigan, and Rinnegan impossible answers.)_

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 **-darkmist june -** _"I feel you, I often have difficulty falling asleep on a dime and just have to wait until I'm finally tired. Glad to hear you're enjoying the story!"_

 **-APimpNamedSlimpback - "** _Thanks for your support. Seriously! Anyone who spends time out of their day to give feedback, I'm truly appreciative for. (BTW, I fucking love your name. The Boondocks reference was not lost on me ^.^)"_

 **-hackingtheuniverse -** _ **"**_ _I take that as a wonderful compliment. I'm actually a very optimistic person and pretty happy, but certainly I understand the other spectrum of humanity and am proud of my ability to display that :)"_

 **-** **Rikufutaki** **-** _ **"**_ _Glad to see you're enjoying the early chapters. I'm 100% open to any comments you have, or If you want to PM me. I hope you continue with the story :)"_

 **-** **Tigaier** **-** _ **"**_ _You're not the first to notice. I purposely drew parallels from the Youjo Senki as it is one of my most loved series!"_

 **-SteveTheBeast** _ **-**_ _ **"**_ _Hope the scene at the beginning of the chapter was enough for you. I had planned it this way, but I made sure to be extra clear as to why Ibiki reacted like that. He was given 3 mission objectives and after basically being forced to give up on one, and the fact she reversed their interrogation completely, caused him to need to crank into another gear."_

 **-Irina Akashira** _ **-**_ _"Responded to you in PM's, but one of the suggestions you had a while back did get used in this chapter. Thanks for your help!"_

 **-** **Homeward** **\- "** _As a writer, I'm not going to pull any punches. Characters will get the brunt of anything that should happen to them without exception -_ _ **PLOT ARMOR BE DAMNED**_ _!-"_

 **-** **Mysterious Goat -** _ **"**_ _I had someone PM me not too long ago raving about my characterization so having other people talk about it makes me very happy. Characters are the lenses of the story and are thus the most important. I definitely focus on characters the most of any aspect."_


	25. Chapter 21

**Article 25 - Chapter 21 - A Plunge Forward And That Which Is Left behind**

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 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _OMG, thank you everyone for your support. 100 Favorites in a single month is an awesome achievement and I couldn't have done it without you guys! I have a special chapter (Like 8k words apparently… WOW) coming at you and spent a lot of time trying to iron it out so that it would do justice to how awesome it was supposed to be in my head. I feel like it could have still been better, but revising it anymore will just slow down the progression of the story so here it is! THANK YOU EVERYONE!_

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

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 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 _This was it. This was my chance to make a big play. To plant seeds to nurture at a later day. It had to be now, while he was looking so pathetic. There was no better time._

"...I found out who killed her... listen good because this is a secret and I won't say it again kay? -I'm making it my life mission to destroy this person. This person is the face of evil and has killed countless of people without remorse. He is a war criminal, a missing nin, and a blight upon this world. I will erase him with my full prejudice."

The Uchiha's mouth fell open at my words, staring at me first with disbelief, but quickly pulled together his composure. His eyes scanned mine looking for something. _Maybe he was trying to see if I was lying to him, or checking my resolve. The flames of hatred burned endlessly inside me. I could tell he saw them, he looked unnerved and… perhaps even a bit impressed by my display._

"I understand. If I were in your position, I think... I'd likely do the same." He replied honestly.

 _Yes! That went splendidly. Perfect. Now I'll just lie in wait until his whole clan is massacred. You will become my instrument Sasuke Uchiha. You will bend to my will._

I fought back the urge to laugh. It would probably only make me look insane. _I need to hold all my cards close to the chest on this one. I finally have a bit of control, I'll never let it go again._

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┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 21 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Over 1 Year Later - Age: 7 Years, 3 Months. )**

I crept through the forest scanning my environment thoroughly. I didn't like the idea of being surprised or snuck up on. My heart fluttered in my chest, I knew the time was very near. The air about the entire village has shifted. _What exactly is a hidden village? - It is a ninja cultural melting pot, we are basically bred to be able to sense danger, or at least train ourselves into the ground to achieve it._

The tensions in the village were hard to notice if you didn't know what to look for, but once you saw it there was no way to unsee it. The apparent disjointed harmony which played like a song in reverse.

I reached for the sapphire pendant chained around my neck; my final memento of the late Ayasha Hyuga. I received it shortly after my return from T.I. - Instantly it became my most treasured possession. When I am stressed or worried, I squeeze this and it oddly sets my heart at ease. It's likely some type of placebo effect, but it was warmly welcomed regardless.

" _Transformation."_

My body melded, adopting the form of a simplistic rock, meant to blend into the surroundings. Normally the transformation jutsu used this way would impair visibility, because of the lack of eyes, however the Byakugan was honestly some 'HAX' next level shit. The longer I stayed in this world, the more I realized this world favored birthright over that of hard work. It's like Being-X wanted me to feel the joys of being born ' _this way'_ , but the idea left a sour taste in my mouth.

 _I've prepared so long, and endured so much hardship throughout my journey. I managed to somehow make myself the prime target for T.I. and then fell off their radar entirely. I've since had to live up to my agreement sending the sandaime reports about the inner workings of the clan despite my low clearance._

The greatest lesson I've learned in the span of both lives has been one thing: _If I want something, I take it._

You think I'll be content with the Byakugan and the _(Shikotsumyaku)_ Dead Bone Pulse? Being content with that is the same to me as being content as an Ant. Ready to be crushed by any of the absurd existences that I know should very well exist, not to mention the existence that stands above them all - _My enemy above all others._

The possibilities of the Susanoo, paired with the two abilities that are determined by the type of trauma they experience, and most of the standard sharingan capabilities at my fingertips without the accompanied pain of using said abilities? - _The prospect seemed too good to be true, the idea was bound to fail, correct? It was like stripping motherhood from the curse of the pain of childbirth - a circumvention of the design of 'god'._

\- And worst of all, I knew these abilities are available and would be wasted if I just let their potential rot in the ground or get incinerated alongside the corpses of the Uchiha massacre.

I sat and waited patiently… Patiently… seeming like forever. I had time to think about a lot of things, like the complexities of the plan, especially after it would be put into motion. _There were many things that could go wrong, but the coup was ever approaching._

I once thought that the Uchiha massacre was a silent mission where only the highest leveled village officials were aware. I thought that with all my past knowledge, that I knew what had happened better than most people would in this entire world.

This could not have been further from the truth. - _How did so little people notice that nearly all of the ninja forces were currently away, or being sent on missions to leave the village, and that the Konoha Guard Patrol was completely overhauled just yesterday? We are in a period of peace, not at war with other countries, but revolution's ghastly presence loomed secretly trying to not be discovered. Some people just hid it worse than others._

Hiashi had been very wound up lately, and all of the Hyuga clansmen guarding the village were given different tasks and missions - _No doubt to keep us busy_.

Nearly the entirety of the clan's fighting force was taken outside the wall for a clan training exercise. Hiashi knew of the incoming slaughter… or at least knew something was going down in the Hidden Leaf, and had been tasked with staying away.

 _-I wanted more information, but I couldn't safely gleam much from him._

The clearing I was in stretched to the west, eventually meeting with a treeline, the mouth of a forest, and to the east was a cliff-side that dropped into a river and rocky jagged waterfall. The buzz of violent water drowning the surroundings, and a thick misty vapor enveloping the area.

I thought of this idea to scout this area as a final alert to when I would need to start - what I call **"Project: Acquisition."** It would be my first meaningful step to be able to compete with the power of Being-X.

Flashbacks keep replaying over and over in my head… When time freezes and I'm defenseless. When there's nothing that I can do in the face of such overwhelming power. NEVER AGAIN. Izanagi is a cheat likely able to let me escape the stasis, not to mention many of the Mangekyo powers could likely be used even with my body frozen because my mind seemed to work just fine.

A fast incoming blur kicked my mind back to focus, I tasked it with identifying the blur. A bleeding man was braced on the shoulder of a younger male shinobi. I instantly recognized the form of Itachi Uchiha and the rough shape of the man in his presence. _That one must be Shisui Uchiha_ \- I thought.

"Unfortunately… it seems like there is no way to stop the Uchiha's coup." The man I had identified as Shisui announced.

That was enough to overhear for me to put my plan into action.

" _Release!"_

The Clone jutsu was released causing my consciousness and chakra to merge with my original body. _The experience of many versions of your psyche merging into one collective data bank was a strange and unnerving feeling, but everyday I'm getting more used to it. It's usefulness is truly superb._

Another shadow clone was set in place to be my alibi in case anything went wrong on the mission, then I just needed to be able to get in range and substitute with my alibi clone and I was 'home free' basically.

I was inside one of Orochimaru's laboratories underground in the winding sewer systems. My old laboratory I had formerly used had somehow been discovered and my research papers which had been stored there were gone.

I hoped that those documents never reached the view of the public, but just for good measure, I stopped writing super incriminating information down at all. I realized that any information that required a code _that strong_ would be under heavy suspicion, and if that code was ever tied to the old research papers I wrote up, I would be in for hell.

 _Who found my papers? Was it the leaf, or was it someone else? Could Orochimaru have found my papers while he was in the hidden leaf… Could Orochimaru still be roaming the halls of the sewers?_

The thought sent chills down my spine and thoroughly terrified me. Up until now, I had not 'connected the dots' to the fact that it could have been him that got their grubby hands on my papers. I briefly wondered whose possession I'd rather have them fall into… _I guess if I had to pick, it would be Orochimaru, simply because they wouldn't be much use to him in the grand scheme of things - especially if I discontinue using that code._

 _I won't be able to even drop my guard in the sewers now. If Orochimaru discovers me, especially with the Uchiha's in tote, It would be like the combination of every missing birthday present he never received from his dead parents all being repaid to him by me. I could accidently provide one of the most terrifying ninja in the world with resources that could make him potentially undefeatable… ouch._

A cold wave froze my ambition temporarily, however no matter the risks I must persevere. _This upcoming moment would define how the rest of my life would play out, and I'm not about to let a little paranoia keep me from my goal. My dream._

The dark and dreary lab was transformed into my work space. Several lighting fixtures were added along the ceilings, and I cleaned the room thoroughly to make sure any patients wouldn't be at risk for disease or illnesses.

 _I was humane enough I guess. They would die anyways, so once I cultivate their powers, I'll let them die in peace. No unnecessary human suffering._

The lighting did much to liven up the space, making it much more tolerable. I quickly thumbed at the latches to the case that lied on the metallic counter top.

The case clicked, the sprung open like it were spring loaded. It contained blowpipes which were made from my own bone structure. They were the final product, the most ideal model from over 40 different designs I had created. _These were the best tools to steathfully deliver the toxin to my targets._

I quickly broke the supplies up into 3 different sets. Each set containing a Blowpipe, aerodynamic darts, a dropper full of powerful chakra blocking toxin, and a dropper containing a powerful tranquilizer.

I had once tried mixing the two compounds together, however the Chakra toxin denatures the tranquilizer eventually making it useless. This can be circumvented by storing them separately and only mixing them right before their use.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" I commanded.

A puff of smoke materialized alongside three clones of myself.

"Alright, Everyone knows what needs to get done!" I announced with a clap.

The clones began throwing on additional clothes overtop themselves as a disguise in the event that any [Transformation's] became undone.

 _I was playing with fire, and I needed to make sure I wasn't going to be burned._

The disguises varied, but all consisted of dark, easily missed, bland clothing. I made sure they all wore face masks and headgear. _Can't be too safe can we?_

The clones were prepared in no time at all; all seeming like soldiers working toward a unified goal with rehearsed precision. The clones rushed out the room in unison, officially putting Stage 1 of **" _Project: Acquisition"_** into motion - " _ **Infiltration."**_

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The clones morphed into that of low ranked Uchiha members; I was one of those clones. I was responsible of carrying out my dreams, but oddly enough I felt a camaraderie between the different projections of myself.

Every twist and turn of the tunnels dredged up a bit more fear. I considered that even with my Byakugan, Orochimaru could potentially have some way to not be detected.

One of the clone up ahead signed with their hands "Exit ahead. Byakugan active."

Relief flooded over me as the exit was in sight.

 _I could finally escape these damn sewers._

There had been no reason to waste chakra on byakugan on all the clones at once, so to conserve resources, only the lead clone would need to have her Byakugan active… at least until they were going to leave the sewers. We need to not be seen by anyone if we can prevent it. The disguises, both the transformation and clothing for backup are only fail safes in case of the mission encounters issues.

"Byakugan." I activated with a whisper.

We crowded the top of the ladder, surveying the surroundings carefully. It was the evening and several peoples days were winding down, so the streets were quite crowded. The side-street that this manhole cover lead to was quite dead in comparison to the surrounding streets, however several people still walked along the dusty road. It lead to several Uchiha residences, so several returning members caked this pathway.

I had already surveyed the internal structure of the compound during trips with Sasuke. I was able to spy on my targets secretly. He was never the wiser and I managed to gain great intelligence that helped me confirm that they were indeed my highest priority.

 _Two siblings, one with a guaranteed 3 tomoe fully mature set of sharingan, the other likely not far behind. They seemed to care for their family so the fuel to force awakening were present._

We waited patiently for an opening, a gap large enough to throw ourselves out of the pipe without being spotted.

Every second that passed compounded the fear that I would never be able to leave. Every second wasted is a second closer to Itachi's return, and if he caught me abducting his clan mates, I was likely dead.

 _I could also run into Fugaku, which would solidify my demise as well. I was staking everything with this mission. For the sake of the rest of my life, I couldn't afford for it to be anything but a resounding success._

I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was being spurred to do this of desperation. Not trying to grab this power is akin to accepting Being-x's reign. While doing it risks my life and future. It was a gamble, but I had prepared for this gamble for many years, and now all that was left was to grab fate by her dainty neck and force my visions to succeed.

My clones and I all quickly mixed together some of the toxic compound. We needed to be prepared from this moment onward. Every second that passed served as a reminder of another second I wouldn't have for my mission. Even less time before Itachi returned. _I need to hurry… but not overly rush._

(I was walking a mental tightrope, where leaning too far to one side would mean getting sloppy and ruining my chances because of my anxiety spurring me to do something stupid, but on the other side this matter was VERY time sensitive. Itachi could very well slaughter the entirety of his clan tonight, right? If that's true, then I need to get my damn pieces **NOW**. I refuse to give up on them, I've spent too much work and time planning to allow this golden opportunity to slip between my fingers.)

I reached toward my neck compulsively, but my transformation had hidden my pendant. I couldn't calm my heart with that item at the moment. _I just need to suck it up and perform._

My heart softly protested, causing me to bury any thoughts or doubts weighing me down.

A break of new pedestrians entering the street eventually left it deserted. A quick second check helped me confirm the absence of anyone that would spot us, the clones and myself piled out of the sewer entrance, careful to replace the manhole cover tentatively in silence.

The sky was dyed red like it understood the impending bloodshed which would ensue. The setting sun causing the shadows to stretch to their utmost limits. The agonizingly calm atmosphere causing my mind to stress to be even more aware.

I didn't know any jutsu that could silence my movements, so I was stuck with basic body control paired with the manipulation of my skeletal system to remove as much of its density as possible.

If I were blindsided with an attack in this state, my bone structure would be shattered like glass and likely dispel the clone jutsu. This was good because my identity wouldn't be found, however bad because I only had 3 clones to carry out the mission.

I had no reserves in wait. 4 clones altogether felt like I was splitting my resources thin already.

We walked briskly attempting to balance stealth with an image of innocence. _We are not standing out, only your typical everyday Uchiha to see here. -Hn. Hn. Hn._

Our feet fell in waves over the walkway. Signs and buildings passed by, but my paranoia painted all the surroundings grey. Unimportant. _Only people, animals, and anything with chakra were of any concern_.

The background blurred while a cold sweat dripped from my brow. The feeling reminding me of my vulnerability. My weakness.

We arrived outside the destination, It was a very traditional design often replicated in the Uchiha compound. An Overhanging roof left a porch encircling the home with wooden support beams. The home was surrounded by a retaining wall which every separate concrete slab sported the Uchiha crest like a banner of honor.

Katydid's chirped in unison drowning the area in sound.

With the Byakugan I confirmed only one individual was inside the house. I signed to the other clones "One inside, other targets M.I.A." which they repeated back to me. All of my clones were of the same opinion that we were alone besides the single chakra presence only appearing as marginally stronger than a typical civilian.

I gave the clone beside me a nod, and we both re-[transformed], now adopting the shape of the main two targets of this mission.

The leftover clone stayed outside to be a lookout, while the other clone and myself headed into the building. A woman appeared in my vision, turning around at the sound of the opening door. Her silky black locks swayed with the breeze thanks to an open window. A smile appeared on her face having noticed us.

"Hey boys. I'm finishing up dinner so it should be ready shortly." She said while shaking a skillet full of frying vegetables. She squirted soy sauce, olive oil, and simultaneously sprinkled sesame seeds into the pan with skillful grace.

(This woman's husband had died in action, meaning that I could reasonably expect that we wouldn't be interrupted.)

I approached the woman alongside the clone beside me with an odd calm. My heart which I expected to be racing was now eerily quiet. A cold detachment swept over me while eyeing the woman before me. _I couldn't become emotionally involved._

The distance was closed quickly in the most innocuous manor I could manage. As the distance approached zero, a speeding dart sprung forth from the clone's blowpipe beside me, lodging itself into the back of the woman's neck.

 _She was so woefully unprepared. She noticed nothing until now._

I quickly reached out, clasping my hands over the woman's mouth, muffling her screams before the tension drained from her body, and then all her muscles relaxed. Her unconscious body was scooped in my arms. I carried her to a back room, binding her with wire string to prevent her from escaping in the event she wakes up.

The makeup of the woman smeared, leaving blue and black streaks across her face. Her lustrous black hair reminded me of my mothers, causing an unexpected surge of jealousy.

I hated my white hair. Ayasha called it silver, but it was snow white, devoid of pigmentation. It wasn't beautiful… or at the very least, it didn't approach the enchanting aesthetics of this woman's hair before me.

 _It wasn't fair._

I had hog tied her limbs together using a special technique to restrain a person's hands to prevent the completion of hand signs. _This woman was supposed to just be a civilian, but being of the Uchiha bloodline, There's no way I could be certain even civilians were completely ignorant of ninjutsu._

Afterwards, I walked out into the main room and took over the frying pan. I tried to salvage the cooking which started to chard just to keep up appearances. The clones quickly paced about the residence making soft audible observations of the homes interior.

"The living room is spacious and would be a decent place to spring the surprise attack." I heard.

The Clone tasked with lookout had entered the home now that the mother had been taken care of. The carried an entryway table out into the back where the hostage was being held, then came back and transformed into the table taking it's spot. The other clone transformed into a pillow which sat on a sofa in the living room.

Wood paneling stretched a quarter way up the walls then transitioned into beige wallpaper. Lamps hung from the ceiling with long rods being shaded by white covers which just so happened to have the Uchiha symbol embroidered on it. The floor-plan was quite open besides the entryway which is probably why the clone took up residence as the table in that room, to block off any exits from the house.

A Hidden leaf insignia was sewn into a colorful tapestry pinned to the wall in the living room.

 _Their home looked so nice… It's a shame they won't be able to use it anymore._

I had slowly eased into a shameful calm. I needed to focus. _How was the plan coming along?_ \- I asked myself.

 _So far so good. The mission was going splendidly._

I added the diced meat which was already laid out on the counter to the dish causing oil to spit and shoot from the pan. The meats flesh hissed against the metallic surface starting to brown.

My Byakugan alerted me to an approaching chunin leveled ninja on coarse to the house.

 _Only one?_ I strained my eyes pushing my vision as far as it could go to see if there were anyone accompanying the one. _I was really hoping for both brothers to return, but if only one brother arrived I could still get my mangekyo._

Only one figure I could sense was approaching the home.

My stomach became light, and the ticklish, sickening sensation of butterflies swelled internally. _I was losing my nerve? No. I was just anxious. Everything's gonna be okay. I'm going to succeed._

I calmed myself quickly before the man could reach the door. I let out a deep agonized breath. _Creek._ The door swung open behind me, causing me to turn back and acknowledge the figure entering through the door.

"Dinner's almost ready. How soon till your brother is here?" I mimicked in the woman's voice as best as I could.

"Leon is probably caught up figuring out what Aki's lips taste like." The figure behind me responded in a tired sarcastic tone.

 _Perfect… His guard doesn't seem up at all. Not to mention that we get to single out each member one by one. Today seems like it could be a very lucky day, thank goodness._

I turned around, exposing my back to the enemy, however because of the byakugan he never strayed from my vision. I took note of a shift, some odd muscle tension from the man who until recently had been relaxed, so I turned around trying to draw even more focus to myself.

"Do you want a quick taste?" I offered, digging around in the pan with a serving spoon.

He never looked away from me, slowly drawing closer.

 _He's definitely noticed._

I pointed to the pan as he neared. His movements felt a bit sharper than his tired sloppy movements after his entry.

A popping noise sounded, causing the boy to leap backwards from me. A volley of darts rained down on him implanting themselves in his skin. He managed to make a loud yelp before we could silence him. We gagged him, and tied him up with wire string, and tossed him in the back with the other hostage.

Making a human puppet is very difficult. Preservation of the specimen was the most difficult part, so having three test subjects would make for a higher chance of success than just two. Also, just in case the the kid didn't awaken the mangekyo, I wanted a spare.

Emotional states are volatile and wouldn't it be the worst if one child secretly held no love for their mother? Or her death in front of them just wasn't enough to evolve their sharingan.

 _Such an eventuality would be unacceptable. I must obtain the Mangekyō._

The clones quickly helped wipe any traces of our actions from the visible area of the home to people entering. We quickly got that finished, then we returned to our stations and waited… waited for the other brother to arrive, the final piece to be acquired.

I paced around the home now having nothing to do. I needed to mix more toxic tranquilizer soon to be sure they were of the highest effectiveness. As those thoughts swirled in my head, a hallway wall caught my attention thanks to all the frames lavishing it.

The framed experiences documenting the lives of these people. The smiling persona's displaying the luster of a real family. The canvases allowing me glimpses into their lives. It started from the target's childhood with each of the brothers comfortably riding on the shoulders of a parent.

I found my hand instinctively grab the frame before realizing what I was doing.

Dark emotions pulsed through me. _Their ignorance of the world is what let them live such sheltered lives..._

I had enough of looking over their pictures, It was starting to make me sick inside. I quickly mixed more of the toxic compound and reapplied it to the tips of my darts.

Minutes flew by into an hour. I was getting antsy and worried that the teenagers yelp had outed me. That some punishment force was going to arrive ready to squash my dreams. I could dispel the clones and keep my identity a secret, but I would miss the only point when I could probably snag these pieces. I NEED THEM.

Time trickled by like it was slowed down. The past hour seemed more like a week. Every second crawled, my paranoia sharpening my focus and senses. I was already feeling physically taxed because of this damn uncertainty.

I wanted to bite my nails… or eat the food which I had long finished preparing as a cover… but neither would be acceptable actions. Everything up to now was for this upcoming moment. I couldn't jeopardize it in any way.

So I waited, and waited, Waiting at attention for any new approaching to the home. Three simultaneous Byakugan were depleting my chakra. _I need to be more frugal with my remaining reserves._

I kicked my own Byakugan off, and the pillow transformed clone also kicked theirs off. The table transformed clone was now tasked with being the first defense of detection. Night was falling and I felt it would be a bit weird if no lights were on inside the home. I kicked on a few fixtures in the living room and sat in wait again.

The hardest part of this whole mission was just waiting patiently. I hate waiting. Patience, after all, is one of my least developed talents.

The anticipation ate at me… making me doubt and rethink my choice to wait for the extra brother. _I could leave right now with both and have two claimed pieces… or I could keep fishing for this last piece and risk them all..._

A smile crept onto my face. I was never one for gradual. My conviction solidified again after thinking about the potential gains. _This was all or nothing, at least for another hour or two, perhaps if he isn't here then, then I'll be forced to give up._

As if answering my doubts, a figure approached the home. They strode confidently up to the door, throwing it open. "I'm home! Sorry for being late I was-" The man yelled.

My deep anxiety caused me to huff into my blowgun, attacking prematurely. _FUCK, how could I let the pressure get to me like this?! Now of all times?_

Darts sailed across the air, floating past the man with inhuman juking movements. His eyes jerkily transitioned from normal to blood red, sporting three tomoe in each sharingan. The darts embedded in the walls with soft _taps_. He was forced deeper in the home because a clone behind him blocked his escape.

"Byakugan!" I recited alongside a clone.

I quickly peered at the man who had his back to me, unleashing another gust from my lungs, pushing the darts in my blowpipe out into the air. They streamed by, also missing their mark as he acrobatically spun.

I ran at the man, Pushing my spine from my body. It snapped out, catching the man's arm, wriggling and expanding.

" **AGHH-"** the spine snaked its way to the man's neck constricting around it making it impossible for him to continue screaming.

My eyes' traced the trajectory of the incoming darts launched by a clone. Closer and closer they came, finally making contact with the man's skin… However a puff replaced him with a chair. _A substitution!?_

 _My true 360 degree vision instantly alerted me to his new position, despite also knowing because of my acquired knowledge of where those chairs particular were located - The kitchen._

The man was frozen for a moment after substituting, and all versions of myself unleashed a massive volley of darts at his new position. At least one made its mark, lodging into his skin. He was quickly restrained and suppressed by my bones. The tremors of fear and anguish escaping through his eyes while desperately shout-humming before falling lax. He was unconscious.

The shouting will likely cause someone to do some investigating, so I'll need to leave now. If I had the chakra to make an additional clone to clean up I would, but I just don't have the chakra or leisure.

All 3 pieces acquired. _" **Stage 2: Recovery"**_ had now finished spurring on _" **Stage: 3 the Return."**_

My clones each grabbed one of the family members, then used a combination transformation to only appear as them.

 _The transformation jutsu is so incredibly useful. Its no wonder it's such a staple._

(The transformation jutsu doesn't let you create a form with dramatically increased mass, however it is possible to dramatically reduce the original mass transforming into something much smaller. This being the main limiting factor of the jutsu, however it's very possible to perform the jutsu in combination with something or someone else.)

I first had this idea when thinking back to my memories of canon Naruto, when he combined with Gamabunta into the nine tailed fox. I then thought of Kiba and Akamaru's joint transformation and realized just how useful it was. The Inuzuka had practically rose to power because of advanced variations of this simplistic jutsu. That is what sparked this idea.

The transformation was very risky, especially here. Advanced sharingan's should be able to see through my trick easily which meant the rest of the mission would likely come down to dumb luck.

All three of my clones (merged with the unconscious bodies of the family) walked out of the building. My body felt much heavier and less responsive. If I encountered an enemy along the way there was no possible way I could fight while holding this transformation.

An elderly Uchiha was outside prowling around, and noticed us leaving. "Jade, what was all that racket about?"

"A spider landed on Leon's face and he screamed like a girl!" I shouted teasingly, hoping that would be enough to quench their curiosity.

"I didn't scream! It was more like a gasp!" My clone retorted in fake embarrassment.

"Hehehe. Ahhh the beauties of youth, you two better not take-it if for granted, ya hear?" The elderly man scolded.

"Are you sure you haven't forgotten what it was like to be young?" My clone in the form of the younger brother said before the clone masquerading as the mother slapped him gently.

 _LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE. You're ruining everything old man!_

"You need to respect your elders!" She barked, before turning to the elder and finishing with: "Sorry about that. This one still needs to be reminded of his manners."

The old man waved off her statement with a grin, chuckling to himself while wobbling back to his residence.

"Phewww" I sighed in relief. A great majority of my anxiety melted away after watching the old man limp away.

 _With all my clones I could be a traveling theater. HA! I even constantly surprise even myself with my improvisation and stagecraft. Surely this talent could be used in more tasteful ways._

We quickly made our way back to the sewer entrance, and slipped into the manhole, covering it behind me.

 _Well… hopefully the darts that are stuck in the walls of the home just look like they got there from Itachi's fight._

I rushed along the interior of the winding pipes trying to reach the lab quickly. I was sandwiched between a clone both in front of me and behind me.

We drudged through the piping slowly and alert. A bit of tension had started to finally drain my tension having been drained from the unlikely event of now running into Itachi, Fugaku, or any advanced sharingan users. _I was basically in the clear!_

I was worried about my chakra reserved falling too low to be able to keep my alibi clone material so I quickly cut my Byakugan off along with the clone behind me.

I followed behind the leader as it jerked and swerved into entrances like it lived underneath the surface it's entire life, like this was it's home.

A smile spread on my lips and a warmth spread through my body. Exhilaration overcame me, I had won.

All that would be left would be to recreate the blood puppet technique. I had a test body after the mother was killed, and then I had two real attempts assuming both brothers awoke the mangekyo.

I need to get it right this time… But even in the event that I can't get it to work, at least I'll still have their eyes to work with in the future. I had gained very valuable assets regardless.

"This is quite interesting." A deep voice sounded behind me.

I panically spun around, peering over the shoulder of the transformed clone.

I felt dizzy and all the heat in my feet and hands vanished like magic. They instantly became clammy, and profusely sweat. Goosebumps arose over my entire body. My knees became weak at the sight of something I hoped I would never have to see in person... At least not so soon...

 _No...FUCK! WHY?!_

My whole body shook like a leaf in the wind, I couldn't stop it… Nothing worked. _I 'm going to die._

My stomach felt drained and all the blood in my body seemed to be getting sucked into my head. My dizziness and nausea made me want to throw up just to see if I could make it end.

"So… What exactly is this?" The dark voice cut through the silence.

 _I'm so going to die… I'm dead, I can accept that right? NO! I CAN'T FUCKING DIE! PLEASE - WHAT CAN I DO!?_

My jaw shivered making my teeth chatter quickly before the clone behind me jabbed a finger into my ribs.

I stared at the figure in front of me. It was dressed in a long black cloak adorning red clouds. The face was covered by a orange mask with a single dark hole that faintly glowed with a red tint.

"Ah! Obito Uchiha, It's nice to finally meet you." I choked.

The demeanor of the man completely changed, even going as far to take a retreating step backwards.

"Who are you?" He demanded, discarding his old voice to the wind.

 _Oh no!? Who can I pretend to be so I wont die!?_

The pipes quickly became hushed beside the slow trickles of dripping sewage. "I am the reincarnation of Izuna Uchiha." I said confidently, dropping only my transformation jutsu.

A quiet gasp sounded behind the mask the man wore. I could tell that had changed the game completely. _If Sasuke is Indra's incarnation, that would mean Madara is already dead, meaning Obito will have a very hard time commemorating a story involving all this knowledge I shouldn't have! YES! YES!_

I reached compulsively to my neck, running my fingers over the polished stone.

"I have watched over you and elder brother for some time… until he finally died, and I entered the cycle of reincarnation… being stuck in this abomination of a body." I said, pulling my face-mask down, and stripping myself of my cloak. My ethereal white locks dangling about caused me to nervously blow the strands from my face.

"You… are the reincarnation of Madara's brother?" He asked clearly confused.

"Yes. I watched over you guys for some time. I refused to pass on to the pure land and anchored my soul to this world, to make sure my brother's dream could be achieved. I believe you call my brother's dream - The Infinite Tsukuyomi."

Obito's stood eerily still. Not moving a single muscle as far as I could tell. A long paining pause becoming a deafening hush.

" **You expect me to believe you are Izuna Uchiha just because you spout out some nonsense!"** He shouted, anger evident in his voice although I didn't know whether it were real or fabricated.

 _What the fuck?! Is the canon plot not what was going on in this world? Did I fuck myself on an assumption? Well I'm in it too deep, so grit my heels and dig, dig deep and never let go!_

"Being reincarnated into a new body didn't leave room for all my memories. I saved the most important ones that I could in this new mind, the rest being scattered and forgotten. Would you like me to prove that I am who I claim?"

Obito scowled at my words, and I could tell that I needed to keep this up. _This is the only lie that can save me!_

"What happened to your sharingan from your past body?" He asked cryptically.

 _Hmm… He could be asking whether Madara stole my eyes or I took them… Or maybe…_

"I gifted them to my brother after his light faded. He unlocked the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan with those eyes, fought Hashirama, died, used Izanagi to return to life, He awoken the rinnegan, then his eyes were implanted into Nagato Uzumaki." I recited carefully.

Obito raised a hand up - Causing the rest of my body to freeze in anticipation. The hand continued up, and found its way to his mask, which he ripped off, revealing the two-toned face of Obito Uchiha. He had short black matted hair. Long wrinkles and scarred tissue clung to one side of his face. I couldn't pull my eyes away from him even if I knew about the sharingan's genjutsu.

 _The Byakugan was supposed to make us Hyuga immune to genjutsu, but not necessarily to the Mangekyō's optical prowess. I hardly had practiced any defenses against genjutsu yet because it was low on my priorities… My mistake._

Obito's jaw had already dropped open and just stared at me. His eyes scanned over me, looking both heavily conflicted and confused.

" **WHY DIDN'T MADARA TELL ME ABOUT THIS!?"**

 _It was like the man's psyche was cracking just looking at me. I need to defuse him or he will be the bomb that wipes me away!_

"He would not have known, I myself didn't expect any of this. To be able to watch over my brother in spirit form. To be able to be re-birthed with my soul intact. It all is astonishing. I've just been trying to train this unruly body without catching too much attention, however the standards for Konoha's children are far too meager. I still stand out like a sore thumb." I said with a vicious laugh.

The absolute sensation of danger screamed out from every cell in my body. It felt like it was asking me how I could keep lying in the face of this demon.

Obito seemed to be unable to say anything… fumbling over his words… His lips separated, but then closed again, happening in a cycle as he couldn't seem to formulate words. He was likely trying to get a grasp on just the new ideas he was exposed to. He finally adopted a scornful scowl and peered into me with his petrifying gaze.

"... What are you doing with them?" Obito asked, pointing to the Uchiha laying in the sewage stream, along with my two other clones.

"I actually was inspired by one of your subordinates… I plan to make a human puppet with one of these Uchiha bodies to give me access to… to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan." I said.

 _I didn't know if I could recreate the EMS, but with Obito's assistance paired with his ability to pull research on Sasori's human puppets, I knew it was certainly possible. I would milk this man for everything he's worth._

My mind flashed back to the photo's upon the Uchiha families wall. To snapshots of all the people framed in my mind I established a bond to… To Lee, to Neji, even to Sasuke, and to everyone else I established a bond with.

 _I'm going to have to swear allegiance to him… I'll need to promise him my future to get any cooperation… or likely to even get out of this alive at all..._

My mind roamed to the betrayed expressions of the people I held those bonds with. All of them regarding me as their enemy. I didn't like the idea… but I knew it to be necessary.

 _I might as well get something out of the deal. Also I bet he could even break my cursed birdcage seal! This could be the most fortunate - unfortunate series of events in the entirety of my existence. I guess I'm selling my soul to a different devil here. Fine by me._

Obito's eyes narrowed at my declaration. He seemed to be deciding whether it was worth killing me or leaving me alive. I felt like I was being scrutinized by the advanced eye of a appraiser. _Was I going to survive the night? It was now all left up to this man infront of me._

"I see… What are your future plans?" He asked still on guard.

"Well, now that you're here, I imagine that recreating a human puppet will be much easier. I ask for your assistance in the forced manifestation of the two boy's Mangekyō Sharingan. It would also be very helpful if you could fetch any data on Sasori's blood puppet jutsu. In return, I will give you an EMS sharingan, and as soon as I age enough…"

I swallowed quickly to moisten my scratchy throat before finishing with: "-I will enter the Akatsuki to assist you in the capture of the tailed beasts."

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, I spent a bit of my time sick or constantly revising over this chapter, so my Yugioh GX fanfic CH.1 should be released tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, I am King Procrastinator and I feel like it isn't quite ready for public view yet.

 **Reviewer Question: - If you could only have one mentor from the Naruto-verse, who would it be? (Why?)**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 **-Zdraco -** _"_ _Currently, Mina has not encountered any spies following her, she had been effectively cleared of her suspicion enough that the Sandaime doesn't want others to think he's being paranoid about her. The Byakugan seems to be one of the most powerful and useful kekkei Genkai because even while they are off, the exceptional vision you have is phenomenal, so I agree._ _"_

 **-APimpNamedSlimpback - "** _If I was placed into Naruto's world, the learning curve that would come with managing emotions with Jugo's bloodline, paired with the fact that it would be overshadowed by the true 'Sage Mode' would be enough for me not to want it, but I could definitely see why other people would still want it. I'm fairly greedy and think about efficiency so if I chose that I feel like I would always have regrets._ _"_

 **-The Jingo -** _ **"**_ _I agree, right now Sasuke is indeed the most suited for a pairing, however the fact that she is so manipulative with him could spell trouble in the future. I guess we'll just have to see what happens ;)_ _"_

 **-** **AGConn** **-** _ **"**_ _Very strong ability, and also very adaptable. A respectable choice for sure. The only potential problem that I would have with it is that Kimimaro, one of the only known human users, managed to get so sick, and it is of my personal opinion that his bloodline was responsible for that sickness- But who knows."_

 **-** **Irina Akashira** **-** _ **"**_ _Your and Mina's confliction over whether Hiruzen's offer was real starts to matter a bit less now that Mina is presented the opportunity to defect to the Akatsuki. IF everything goes well with Obito, she will have her way out of the village. All she needs to do now is become strong enough to leave the village behind. "_

 **-Redderthanred31** _ **-**_ _ **"**_ _Thanks for all the messages you've been sending me lately. You've been key to making the story better and I appreciate you a lot for it. Thanks for your suggestion with her code name "Silver Wing" as it was marginally better than what I had thought up previously ;)"_

 **-lizyeh2000** _ **-**_ _"_ _Thank you for following! Here's your update :)_ _"_

 **-** **SteveTheBeast** **\- "** _Long live Lee, the "Godslayer" tamer. Super biased when it comes to Lee and love that you seem to hold him as high as I do haha. Rock Lee is life"_

 **-** **GiantPsychoGecko -** _ **"**_ _The characters are like squirrels, They live in the tree's and all day I think about the rocks I'll throw at them =D, Conflict is what causes tension and drama so of course I'm going to pelt them almost nonstop."_

 **-Mysterious Goat -** _"Oh yes, hopefully this chapter will be a lingering reminder of the true nature of Mina Hyuga. Paranoid, Power starved, Self-loathing, and incredibly manipulative."_


	26. Chapter 22

**Article 26 - Chapter 22 - Transcending the Fear and Doubt**

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 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Hello! 4/24/2019, it's already been 3 months since I published the first chapter of the fanfiction, and I'm so thankful for everyone's support. We are already at 200 favorites and 260+ follows. Life has been a bit hectic for me lately and I find myself with so little free time to myself to actually get in the mood of writing. I can't let the fans wait forever though, so finally after 2 months, I make my return._ _Let me know how I did with the chapter and your opinions on the story so far!_

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

Obito's eyes narrowed at my declaration. He seemed to be deciding whether it was worth killing me or leaving me alive. I felt like I was being scrutinized by the advanced eye of a appraiser. _Was I going to survive the night? It was now all left up to this man infront of me._

"I see… What are your future plans?" He asked still on guard.

"Well, now that you're here I imagine that recreating the human puppet will be much easier. I ask for your assistance in the forced manifestation of the two boy's MS. It would also be very helpful if you could fetch any data on Sasori's blood puppet jutsu... In return, I will give you an EMS sharingan… and as soon as I age enough... I will enter the Akatsuki to assist you in the capture of the tailed beasts."

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┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 22 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina** _Alibi Clone_ **POV)**

 **(Several Minutes Before.)**

The banquet hall was filled to the brim, even bursting outside, with strong political allies and the entirety of the Hyuga clan off assignments. Eloquent yet sensible chandeliers hung from the at least 15 foot ceiling. The room bustled with activity and murmurs amongst the people. I received hostile stares from the main branch members who literally surrounded me spare a select few.

I had been placed at lady Hinata's left side due to both my respected reputation and my "promotion" from megar side-branch fodder to Hinata's personal guard. They called it a promotion, but had neglected to inquire of my opinion or desires.

Of course I didn't want this responsibility, but I had long known of the inevitability. I would be scooted into my role like a good girl so that I can at least gain more intelligence to be able to pass back to the Sandaime.

From my peripheral vision I noticed a whore rubbing up on some middle aged man who had left his prime and now relied on his social status.

 _Disgusting, they have no shame even amongst all these people? -and children?_

He jerked a bit causing the woman on his lap to tip the glass over impacting the ceramic floor with a _**Kshhhttk**_.

I briefly smiled at the thought of how much attention they had just attracted. _They'll probably have to behave for a while now._

I shifted my focus back to the thoughts of the my rise to Jōnin.

 _The more valuable the intelligence, the greater he will value me. With my plans to fast track myself I should be capable of becoming a Jōnin, hopefully within the next 6 years. Only 6 more years under the thumb of the oppressive Hyuga._

Hiashi had rented out this building for the celebration, probably to avoid the clan from becoming involved in the bloodshed that would become the Uchiha massacre. I didn't know how much he knew, but I could tell the fact the entirety of the clan was outside the village limits was no mere coincidence. There was a purpose for removing us all from the village. It was either directive from the top, or Hiashi's personal decision after contemplation.

It's ironic, this whole spectacle is somewhat of an alibi for the clan while keeping them uninvolved, which is exactly what I was using this social function for as well. I would be seen here by many. Even if the mission ended up failing, I should be able to escape suspicion.

When the mission is complete and I receive the signal, then I'll quickly slip off so that the substitution could go unnoticed.

"Mina-kun?" a faint voice called out to me.

I readopted my sociable smile and turned to the right to face the girl. "Yes, Hinata-sama?"

"I'm sorry father is forcing you to become my bodyguard…" She whispered so the crowd around us wouldn't hear. She had so little self-esteem she hardly made eye contact with people as she talked to them. Many amongst the main branch incorrectly speculated this to be due to a feeling of superiority due to being the heir.

"It is no problem Hinata-sama. Had I been asked I would have gladly accepted the position." I lied with practiced finesse.

She looked startled upon the realization, but it did little to appease her. She was always upset with the responsibility of her role.

I was envious that she was born into such a favorable position. Had that been my spot I would be well on my way of overtaking the patriarch and establishing a new age of reform.

"You look unhappy my lady, is there something I can get for you?" I asked hoping to be excused from the table to stretch my legs.

Her eyes darted to mine but quickly retreated to her lap. She started to blush and I could tell she was embarrassed. A child younger than her was responsible for her when she just wanted to be responsible for herself.

For a brief moment, I got lost in admiration of the cute girl.

Hinata had several qualities that I lacked. She was a true maiden, her shy naivety is enticing as well as her vanilla beauty. Her hair had so much potential but she refused to grow it out because of her lack of self confidence. It's honestly a shame.

Long hair was in a sense a sign of pride as well a declaration of superiority. Only the Strong or stupid would allow themselves to be handicapped.

As much as I preach sensibility and pragmatism, I also wish to uphold myself to higher standards. My hair will be my pride even if it is devoid of pigmentation.

I hadn't decided yet, but I was toying with the idea of dying my hair. I could meld into normalcy if I died it black or I could continue standing in a stark contrast to those who surround me.

 _I am already the outsider, and I'm not ashamed of my hair, it just lacked the same aesthetic I craved in my past life. I ended up as a woman, so I might as well tailor my looks to my satisfaction -no?_

I refocused on the maiden heiress and felt a bit brave. I decided to start asserting myself as the alpha between us whenever I could. _She was a blank canvas and she could still be dyed any color._

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" I asked in a hushed whisper to avoid those around us in discovering my 'second guessing' the heir.

She shook her head 'no' in acknowledgement of the question.

"...How are you so strong?" Hinata asked before she seemed to realize her words and her hands shot to her mouth as her cheeks began to redden.

I was taken back by the question and didn't really know what I was going to respond with, but before I could respond the girl quickly finished with: "Sorry — I just—"

I didn't understand why, but I started talking before my brain could arrive at a conclusion.

"You must find something you want to protect. Some people want to protect their pride, social status, loved ones… whatever it is, it needs to inspire you."

I started to process what I had just blurted out as easily as if it were a concrete fact I had memorized…

My brain hummed as it tried to poke holes in my explanation, but a stern look of understanding arrived on the heirs face. She seemed to absorb my explanation faster than I could deconstruct what I actually said.

"...What do you want to protect?" Hinata asked.

 _What do I want to protect? Do I want to protect anything besides myself? I suppose my ideals and my self-preservation are my primary motivations… I suppose one could say that I am 'basic,' however I can't admit that to the heir..._

"My ideals… my beliefs. I believe one day I will be able to leave my mark upon this world for the better…and I will need to protect you to be sure you can see it all."

Hinata's cheeks still remained flush of embarrassment.

"I believe lady Hinata-sama is sick, she's looked like she has had a fever half the night." A main-branch boy called haphazardly across the table.

More people around us pulled their focus back to the heir and she became the talk of the table.

I watched as her hands grasped and crumpled her kimono nervously beneath the table.

"Yeah, Hinata-sama, are you feeling alright?" a girl asked.

"I - I'm alright…" Hinata said still flustered nervously waving off the statement with both of her arms in front of her body.

Curious eyes scanned over her which made her slump into her seat somewhat, just enough to be noticed, yet not enough to be scolded from the clan.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

…

My answer caused Obito's shoulders to finally relax. _Thank god! It seems I might live after all!_

"I see… Those are enticing terms Izuna. Hmm… a forcibly awakened MS sharingan used in a puppet… I would have never even thought to use such a thing." He admitted.

"The puppet will be significantly easier for me to control because of the Hyuga's ability to completely control the bodies tenketsu, then on top of that I have the Shikotsumyaku so I plan to mount the puppet on my back and feed it chakra from my own body."

"Are you not worried about the lack of mobility that will cause you?"

"The slight loss in mobility will be worth the reduction of lag time it usually takes for a puppeteer to initiate an action and when the action actually begins. I want to be able to use the sharingan nearly instantaneously and if that means I strap it to my back so be it." I replied.

The man before me hummed softly at my response.

I walked closer to the cloaked man, pushing a bone from my body to display the use of the kekkei genkai. "It will require a locking seal that I can activate at will… which honestly I have no idea how to do. Losing the bulk of my memories is quite infuriating…" I hissed.

Obito bent forward and… and began laughing. A hard booming laughter cut into the air causing my hair to stand on end.

"I see. Izuna you might even be more interesting than your brother. Without having met you, I would have never guessed. -Reincarnation huh? I wonder if Madara will get impatient and just try that too." Obito joked.

"I doubt it. He is too much of a perfectionist to change his plans this deep." I replied honestly.

-But that just caused a greater laughing spell from the Uchiha. A gut wrenching boom escaped his lips, causing the pipes to reverberate with sound.

 _Careful there, your gonna get me caught laughing like that!_

"Heh, you liked that?" I nervously teased.

Obito composed himself, and replaced the mask onto his face before responding with: "So you want my assistance do you? I suppose I can lend a hand until the massacre is poised to begin."

"A… massacre? Surely you don't mean the clan?" I asked feinting the knowledge.

Obito froze causing me to hold my breath in anticipation.

"I do... It will be me and this up and comer, Itachi Uchiha. He is a piece I've been eyeing for some time. I believe he will be a key to the success of the _Eye of the Moon_ plan while we can eliminate the leaf indoctrinated Uchiha that could potentially throw a wrench in the plans. You should honestly see him at work Izuna, he reminds me a lot of the stories of you." He commented.

 _Alright, act just a little surprised… Yup, there we go. Now go in for the kill._

"Alright, well… I guess I'll lead the way to the lab I was going to use for the experiment. Would you mind following me?" I asked.

He fell in step behind myself without any further words. The only sounds were the droplets impacting the lead-ceramic pipe surface and the sloshes of our feet. We quickly arrived at the lab, and before my main body could realize what was going on, I dispelled myself.

…

My conscious transferred to my main body. One half of me wanted to scream in terror at the memories that merged with me and the man standing before me, but instead a more controlled part of myself responded: "Wonderful, you're here."

 _Wonderful?! It's a wonder he hasn't just killed me! - but… Knowledge is what I seek... and he has a treasure trove of it… maybe this is secretly wonderful…_

"Alright, let me just strap down these three and blindfold them." I announced walking to the unconscious body soaked in filth and laying on the ground.

It wasn't my intention to drop them into the disgusting sewage, but my surprise overwrote all other processes diverting all my effort into pulling out some of the most spectacular improvisational bullshit I possibly could have.

I took quick labored steps carrying the teenager and tossing him atop the table. I quickly stripped him of his disgusting clothing and wiped down his body with 90% proof alcohol for sterilization.

I quickly threw a fresh white sheet over the man so that my eyes wouldn't drift over his naked body… _Eww. Pull your mind out of the gutter._

My clones tossed the others on the operating tables to the left and right of me, strapping them in and also blindfolding them.

"So… What exactly are you trying at?" Obito asked from behind his mask.

"I'm going to kill these kid's mother in front of them, however I want them to feel like they had a hand in it, and I think we can increase the reliability of the awakening alongside your mangekyo enchanced genjutsu."

"What is the purpose of the genjutsu? You are trying to increase the reliability of the awakening? -How do you intend to do that?" Obito asked sounding suspicious.

"My plan for the genjutsu is to attempt to diversify the abilities that would be awakened, but yes I think that the genjutsu could help to amplify their emotions which could indirectly result in an increased reliability of awakening. As you know, the special ability awakened in each eye is decided by how they awoke the MS, so I want one to see their brother choose to save himself over the mother and we do the job, and the other could see the brother want to save the mother but the mother commits suicide to protect them."

Obito stood eerily still throughout my speech, and even after finishing he remained unmoved and silent.

A long pause stretched uncomfortably causing tension to build in my muscles.

"You are far more ruthless than your' brother had lead me to believe."

Dread swept over me but I did my best to suppress any showings of it. I casually waved away his statement with my hand.

"This being my second go at life, I'm much more grounded in understanding. I know what must be done." I replied.

"Yes, of course… Izuna… What is it like post death?"

I noticed him gripping the edge of the operating table while his mask faced me. I didn't know what I should tell him…

"It felt like the most extreme version of isolation. I could watch… I could travel… but I could never interact… never participate. I'm certain if I had entered the pure land it would have been different, but my attachment to this world bound me like an anchor until I finally found an out."

"I wonder… If I died what would become of me. Would I strive to meet those whom have already dearly departed… or would I continue striving to reshape this world."

An icy chill crept over my neck causing the hair there to stand on end.

 _Knowing this man's story, there is little doubt that he is defective and is still lost. Madara had turned him through manipulation, and Naruto ended up turning him back many years from now after breaking his flawed outlook with "talk no jutsu."_

"Do you want to change the world for those that you have lost along the way, the people still here, or perhaps for the future generations?" I asked truly curious.

"I want a world devoid of the flaws and corruption of humanities evil."

 _You say that but is that really what you want?_

I attempted to peer through the guise of his mask to discern his true disposition but found myself without any answer.

"I want to spite the creator of this imperfect world by fixing all their 'mistakes,' but I can't help to think all my effort will only result in something like a bandage… only covering up the problem."

Obito smashed a fist into the table jolting the body strapped to the table awake with a _**Kchooom**_!

" **Project: Tsukuyomi is not a bandage - It is our only answer!"** Obito spat.

"I'm not saying it's not, but even under the most ideal conditions the people will still die. The tree does not sustain them indefinitely. Only each person's dreams are complete. Does that or does that not sound like a bandage?"

"Mmhhhmm **Mhmmmphh**!" The body atop the table mumbled against their restraints.

After finishing, I realized that I was prodding a vicious beast and testing his patience.

 _Why do I let my argumentative nature drag me into trouble?!_

Obito clenched and unclenched a hand several times staring at it.

" **Mm-MMAAPH**!" The squirming captive hummed frantically.

"... a bandage... Nonsense." He uttered under his breath.

I inwardly rejoiced at his reaction, it could have been much worse.

 _I must be more careful. I have to remain careful around Obito, tearing down at the foundation of his beliefs will only cause him to become more unstable._

I retrieved my trusty syringe and sedated the unruly captive again. The kicks and squirms of protest with the accompanied muffled cries began to wean in intensity until the subject fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina** _Alibi Clone_ **POV)**

 **…..**

 **Energy surged into me.** The brief moment of breathlessness startled me, causing me to let out an ungraceful wheeze which was overheard by the bystanders surrounding me. The eyes which were previously fixated on Hinata were dragged to me.

 _Obito Uchiha… Is with my main body… Will I be okay?_

"Mina-chan?" a voice called out to me but I was too lost in thoughts to even spend the effort to identify who spoke.

With wobbly arms I pushed myself out of my chair and onto my feet.

"Excuse me, I'm going to use the bathroom."

I turned and began putting distance between the table and myself. I could hear the whispers behind me as I turned to leave, but I didn't care, I just wanted to make my way to the bathroom. I skillfully wove through the crowd of people zipping left and right past the innumerable faces.

My breathing was starting to return to normal, but intake still felt awfully hot and strained. My spine was uncomfortably straight as I neared the door. I calmly yanked the door handle and slid inside.

Inside, I found several women gossiping in front of the mirror to my disappointment. I walked closer and noted that none of them seemed even remotely interested in me since I had walked in, so I stood at the corner of the mirror and inspected my face.

My forehead was moist with perspiration despite minutes ago being fine.

 _I can hold up, this can still end to my advantage… at the very least I won't need to become a Jonin in order to leave my clan, I could just defect to the Akatsuki. However if I go through with this I am now making an enemy of all the people I had bonded with thus far… Will the freedom be worth it?_

Thoughts swirled inside my head as I wiped my forehead with a towel. the idea of the betrayal - of everything up to now, the people, their ideas, ideals, everything. There would be no turning back.

 _Am I considering staying? Is it even possible? Doubtful… Ayasha… If your watching over me… I'm sorry… But nothing worth doing is ever easy… is it?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

A warped suction sound projected behind me causing me to turn to confirm my suspicion.

A distorted space where light bended and folded around while a a cloaked figure stepped through the space with steady footing.

"Were you able to find it?" I asked.

"I do believe this manuscript has the majority of the process you were searching for. It was the original property of Sasori."

"Will Sasori have a problem with you giving me this knowledge?"

Obito let out a low chuckle which seemed to reverberate through my body uncomfortably. "It'll be fine, leave it to me."

 _Okay… As off as the guy is, Obito is an invaluable ally, even if we are just using each other for our own means, and even if its only temporary._

I tried to look at the bright side of the scenario I found myself in. If I lose focus on the positive I'll be swept up into a sea of negativity.

My eyes caught sight of the studded cover of the manuscript being held in the hand extended out to me.

 _This is what I've been working for… for years… Just handed to me… Is this real? Perhaps a dream?_

I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the book. The heft in my palm calmed the turbulence that roared in my heart. I looked with anticipation to the cover which was dark brown with an emblem of a red scorpion on the front.

I glanced back up at Obito expectantly, it seemed _too_ easy. _Too_ perfect.

"Well? That's what you wanted, correct?" he said.

I flipped through the aged pages carefully to preserve it. It was precious. The margins were crammed full of notes of observations and information from the author. Each page also contained diagrams, pictures, procedures, ect…

 _Marvelous! This is exactly what I needed!_

My lip curved into an elated grin.

 _I couldn't ask for more competent help. With this I think we can finally begin._

"Yes, this is perfect." I responded.

"Alright. In a few moments Zetsu will arrive and then we can begin."

A shiver swept over me quickly. _Zetsu? The Black portion of Zetsu is the will of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki… how will Zetsu view me? Will Zetsu be able to turn Obito on me?_

I had hoped I could stall this meeting for years… to have more prep time than to just having it heaved on me with perhaps a few minutes of anticipation.

 _How can I prepare? -No, I will be fine, just stick to the story. If he attempts to discredit me at worst I'll expose it to Obito and perhaps be able to buy my life by throwing Zetsu under the bus._

It was a terrible plan… But I was out of time, I'd rather commit to a half baked plan than try for another spectacular improvisation. Something told me that the little luck I had was going to run out if I left anything to chance.

"A few moments?" I asked with a faint smile to hide my anxiety.

Obito folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall. A still silence filled the room awakening more of my panic than I'd like to admit.

The slightest low hum became audible which caught my attention as I tried to zero in on the noise. I looked down as the noise got louder and the ground beneath began to vibrate gently. Rootlike appendages twisted and poked between the cracks between rock slabs used as flooring.

The form continued twisting and accumulating until It shaped itself into a familiar figure from my distant memories.

"Hmm… what do we have here?" A rambunctious voice cut into the silence.

The white half of Zetsu looked amused as it peered at me, however the black half of Zetsu's eye never left me, trained on me like a bloodhound, inspecting, analysing.

If I were a Yamanaka I might be able to hear his thoughts… how glorious would that be rather than the staring match we seem to be having.

I relented first… I didn't want to raise too much suspicion.

"A Hyuga?" Black Zetsu asked softly while glancing to Obito for confirmation.

I took a step forward while sticking my chest out. "I am your new ally. I will be joining the Akatsuki in time, and will be carrying out orders for the _'Eye of the Moon'_ plan."

I watched Black Zetsu slightly twitch at the mention of the _"Eye of the Moon."_

Obito lifted his arms into the air like a showmen making an announcement. "Will of Madara… Let me introduce you to none other than Izuna Uchiha."

A disastrous explosion of saturninity rung like a mute chorus. Everything felt far too still, even my heart felt inactive.

 _Being-X?!_

I scanned the environment expecting to find a sign of divine intervention. A surefire conclusion due to the experience I had with the devil. _He must be at work!_

Despite my full confidence of 'it's' involvement, I couldn't extrapolate any evidence of interference. I returned my gaze to the form of Zetsu.

A youthful acceptance painted on the white Zetsu's visage… _Understandable, seems the white zetsu's are quite ignorant due to their lack of experience and knowledge._

I felt a lump appear in my throat that refused to disappear despite my attempts to swallow. The black Zetsu half remained speechless even as I could imagine all the thoughts that could be swirling amongst his consciousness.

 _She is not Izuna. She is a threat. She is a danger to the plan. He must be thinking at least a few of these, no?_

The silence was interrupted by Obito first having noticed our deadlocked stares.

"Zetsu?" He asked questionably before his eyes locked on my own.

The glint of his sharingan was mesmerizing and absolutely terrifying. Especially now as he faced me like I could be a potential enemy.

The black form broke their shell of apathy by breaking into a maniacal cackle. The laughter so deeply demented it felt more in place in a nightmare. A work of fiction. A final fantasy that haunts generations through the mythical legends adults would tell children.

The black figure took a step closer and the rest of his body quickly followed suit. _Clunk, Clunk, Clunk…_

My paranoia superseded my common sense, I took a panicked step back. _Retreat… Retreat… Death…_

My subconscious blared over my thoughts promising an impending doom.

 _Even in my last moments I was only a mere coward… Could I have accomplished anything if I hadn't been so focused on piggybacking off the strength of kekkei genkai? I used to think it was simply sensible to aspire for its strength and make it mine. Regret… I regret nothing! Had that shitty 'God' played fair It would have worked… right?_

"Fantastic! … Wonderful! … Welcome to the team… Izuna."

It sounded like a joke… one that poorly disguised the punchline. My eyes shifted between those present endlessly, lapping up all the information I could. I accepted my helplessness but it seemed as if Obito hadn't caught on to Zetsu's joke… He didn't look like he knew I was a fraud, even going as far as to turn his back to me to scroll through some of my old research papers laid atop the steel countertop.

In disbelief, I looked back to Zetsu who was now directly in front of me with a dastardly wicked grin.

 _Was Obito just leaving this to Zetsu? Can I escape? Can I live?_

Adrenaline surged through the entirety of my body, skillfully ripping away the panic-locked tension wove through every muscle.

The black hand stalled in the air that encroached into my personal space. My eyes couldn't believe what they saw… _it must be a genjutsu!?_

Black Zetsu held his hand in the air… like he wanted a high five.

Inescapable confusion dazed me as I stood dumbfounded.

A white arm sailed through the air and the hand connected with the black palm.

 _What?_

 _...The white half of Zetsu just high fived the black half? What the fuck?_

I stared blankly at the figure in front of me with my expectations shattered.

Joyous laughter rung out as the black half of Zetsu replied with soft rebukes to white Zetsu.

 _So… Zetsu doesn't know?_ I wondered as I fought the urge to throw my hands up or scratch my head.

Zetsu turned and began making his way over to Obito.

The paranoia drained from me as I internally cursed my instincts. I had almost revealed myself as a traitor under pressure… I was so sure that he knew… Perhaps my instincts are not the most reliable tool.

 _I'll even take failed leaps over half-steps at this point._

I swallowed my doubt, deleting it from my mind. My little struggle had taught me something valuable.

 _Living in fear isn't living at all. Sure, perhaps a bit of fear is healthy, but I'm committed to my part and I don't have the time or energy to constantly second guess myself. Whatever happens, I will act with confidence. Confidence in the plan… in my decisions, and in my actions. I need to face the future and swallow my doubt. This feeling I have right now, I'll never let it go._

I'm not worried at all anymore. All of those countless days and nights spent continuously fretting. Finally… instead now a peaceful calm resided inside my heart.

 _Look into my soul_ _ **YOU DEVIL**_ _, you'll no longer find the plague of doubt and fear, only absolute certainty._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Leon POV)**

A shrill scream filled the air, it was mine. The wound opened by the knife like the skin was butter. The crimson liquid oozed from the wound beside the open jugular now exposed to the air. Each heartbeat caused a shot of blood to pour and squirt from the body.

" _ **NOOOOOO! MOTHER!"**_

My eyes twitched and felt hot. My despair and rage leaked into the air through a ghastly aura. Pain seized my eyes as well as the prefrontal cortex of my brain. They seared and liquid bubbled out from the edges of my eyes sliding down my cheeks. A ancient and primal power snapped awake from deep within me flooding over me and filling me with the hope that I could crush the white haired girl that had convinced my mother to end her own life.

She was a demon hiding in the skin of a little girl. She was a monster. To make it worse, she was a Hyuga. It was my responsibility to wipe her from the realm of the living. To exorcise the evil in front of me - it consumed my thoughts, fueling my passion to even greater heights.

" **AHGHH!** " I shouted as my vision distorted. The three tomoe in my eyes I felt stretch into what I could only assume was a pinwheel formation. _I had unlocked the clans ultimate weapon! I have the power to fight!_

 _ **DAMAGE! MAIM! KILL! Sharingan manafest my will! Destroy my enemy!**_

The pain felt oddly welcoming despite my body's cries of agony. I felt waves of distortion push from my vision causing it to become fuzzier. White ethereal threading materialized itself from thin air and stretched towards the girl, curling and winding as it manifested like an apparition.

 _ **Further! FURTHER! KILL!**_

Elation surged into me as I saw the ghastly threads wind around and penetrate my target.

 _ **YES! DIE!**_

The pain caused my eyes to clamp shut despite the smile I wore like a badge of honor. _I got her… The man is next!_

The light bleeding through my closed eyelids felt like the red light from a neon sign, it faintly reminded me of the bar I had frequented this past year. _I still have to keep fighting!_

My eyes slid open and all I could see in every direction was a black abyss except for two floating sharingan piercing everything with its immense power.

 _I'm in a Genjutsu!?_ I questioned. _Yes, it must be a genjutsu... the man with the girl!_

I struggled to disturb my internal chakra to break the genjutsu, but despite having fairly advanced practitioner skill, it would not break.

 _He has the same eyes… No, his must be exponentially stronger to keep mine at bay. Why is a Sharingan user collaborating with the Hyuga monster? Had she made him? Perhaps transplanted someone else's sharingan so that he'd help her? Are the Hyuga trying to steal the sharingan for themselves?! This must be what my late father had meant when he confided in me to not trust from outside the clan, but I wouldn't have ever trusted the Hyuga anyways._ _ **-**_ _ **STOP**_.

A red fog filled my mind corrupting it and I could feel my pinwheel shape revert back to the generic sharingan. I felt sleepy and tired. My anger and frustration seemed to wean being replaced by a chilled sensation like my body was bathed in ice water.

I felt the heat escape my body, as well as lost the ability to breathe. Everything before me was swallowed by the darkness. _My lifeforce… is getting so… so weak._

 _I was startled… and I didn't care? It didn't make sense… but it didn't have to… I'm so tired. Just a bit of sleep and I can get back to it… zzZZzz._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

 _It went soooo easily! Too easy even…_

Obito and myself had managed to awaken the older brother's Mangekyō and put him under before much damage could be dealt. The kid had managed to manifest some sort of white twine or string midair that fascinatingly could both harden and sap chakra.

It was a completely unique ability I hadn't known to be native to the canon narutoverse so it was completely reasonable to conclude that this world is not confounded to some invisible writers hand, at least not from what I could tell.

I wanted it… I wanted the power of the Mangekyō. Not desperately like I had once hoped, but with confidence and assurance. I would have them both, the Sharingan and the Byakugan. In this world of overpowered 'Eye Hax' I arguably had three of the 'Elite five'. Only missing the Tenseigan and Rinnegan, both mastered evolutions of the sharingan and byakugan. Personally I don't understand a lot about the tenseigan but supposably my genetics should allow for it. If not, I might have to find Ōtsutsuki DNA and figure out how to graft that into me.

 _The Tenseigan would me more preferable between itself and the Rinnegan because of the ying-yang chakra cloak mode and truth seeking orbs. That shit's gotta be absolutely busted._

As much good news as I had just received, The younger brother's manifestation underwent complications. Instead of evolving his sharingan into a Mangekyō he only manifested his third tomoe. I need to figure out how we can put him under greater emotional strain. Now that the main spark that was the mothers death was used up I was going to have to be creative to awaken his Mangekyō.

 _They_ don't need to see one of their most important people die in front of them, they only need to think they watched them die. The brain creates the chemical reaction which ignites evolution. If we can set up a convincing enough performance, we can make the younger brother believe he killed his older brother. Before we get him to that point we need to prime him though. I absorbed the methods used on me in my T.I. stint to get the captive in a suitable state of mind quite resourcefully in my opinion.

A cold dark chamber, barely '8 by 8,' devoid of much besides a worn stained mattress and a waste bucket, accompanied by the previously recorded screams of his older brother when Leon was watching the suicide of the mother, replayed over and over.

 _-Like the memories from my past life were replayed by the demonic Being-X._

Briefly I wondered if I was taking things too far in the pursuit of power. _Surely I still had lines I wouldn't cross… I must right? Even if none came to mind when the opportunity presented itself I could distinguish right from wrong?_

 _I couldn't let the 10 tails be recreated by the akatsuki... unless the 10 tails were the only answer to combat being-X… See! Even now, I make stipulations I would be willing to break in order to slay the demon that before haunted my dreams._

"Let's not waste time in contemplation… I'm not afraid anymore. I need to only worry about efficiency…" I scolded myself.

 _What else could break down the subject more completely? In this state they will surely jump to conclusions faster than they can utilize logic._

I peered into the chamber between the doors bars noting the slumped figure leaning against the wall. He must have noticed me despite my intention to sneak up to here because despite being blindfolded he turned his head toward me… _I must improve if I expect to become a missing nin._

"... Is he alive?" He asked.

"He is…" I answered.

A short pause sounded before the man pulled his arms around his legs. "What do you want with us?"

"We intend to create an eye that surpasses that of the original Mangekyō, but to do that both of you need to unlock the Mangekyō… and right now… it's starting to look like we might have to kill your brother in order to achieve it."

"...Man-Gekkio?" the brother asked uncertainly.

It would seem this one hadn't learned about the greater evolution of the sharingan which is understandable considering many inside the Uchiha didn't even have pure enough chakra to awaken the sharingan. As the generations continued, less and less trueblood Uchiha were left.

 _The unfortunate consequences of genetic diversity._

"Yes the evolution of sharingan past the awakened three tomoe. It is exponentially stronger-"

"-Then do it to me, just release my brother." he insisted.

"I'm sorry, We could if you can awaken your Mangekyō without needing to kill him. Are you willing to become an instrument to reshape this ninja world at the cost of allowing your brother to survive?"

 _It would likely be impossible to get the eyes to evolve without the death of his brother… if it's not impossible it's far too impractical to attempt. Ofcourse I will choose the path for the greatest chance of success having already worked so hard. It will succeed, I can almost taste it._

Another shrill scream replayed and i watched a muscle spasm above the teens eye. His anger slightly leaking out despite his effort to remain calm.

 _He's trying to play me. Does he actually believe I'd let either of them go? Surely not, he's just playing along until he is presented with an opportunity… perfect. I'll steer him into concocting an escape attempt and as he is escaping… that's when I'll do it!_

My eyes and the eyes of the captive where in a heated deadlock until I decided to take my leave.

As I left I felt the stares of additional eyes trained on me… It would seem that I can't remove my mask anymore. Like many of the most eccentric actors, I would live my part like Heath Ledger with his portrayal of the Joker. I will become the Izuna of Obito's fantasies to be sure I am never exposed.

I could see the Zetsu which attempted to spy on me with the byakugan. I couldn't help but notice him, noticing that I spotted him, and a sadistic smile appeared on the face of black Zetsu.

 _Playing anything but my part will be dangerous. I still have so much work left to do...The saying rings true._ _There is no rest for the wicked_ _._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Zemptai-sama again, ?

 **Reviewer Question: - ?**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS and COMMENTS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 **-RT -** _"_ _Oh yeah, for sure, the main character has a long way left to be developed before she resembles anything close to a fan favorite for most people. The story is meant to captivate the reader and bring them along for the ride. Mina isn't going to be the only OC in the story forever, so the Story will start branching off in other people's perspectives as well (A plus if you can't stand the MC lol.)_ _"_

 **-Cod3d -** _"_ _Somewhat, and somewhat not. Mina doesn't believe that Being-X is a god, and instead sees it just as a divine being misusing its power. She has a more deep seated reason for disliking Being-X then simply the situation she was plopped into in the narutoverse._ _"_

 **-Dark and Chaotic -** _"_ _Thanks for your support. Let me know how I did on this new chapter ;)_ _"_

 **-DokB -** _"_ _Personally, I'm trying to write the ROB as just enough of a dick that you want to root for Mina ever so slightly more than itself. Especially as you gather more information throughout the story. As far as the God being Jashin, he is not. I've been thinking about it alot, and what I might do is make Jashin the "God" of the Narutoverse, and make Being-X a God encroaching on the others domain. IDK, I'm not completely decided yet. Oh yeah, Before she gets to the chunin exams she'll be good and batshit crazy. I hope it'll be a fun read. I have specific plans for a few big names deaths throughout the story, some expectable and some suddenly dropped in the readers laps._ _"_

 **-VanitasTheFool.1 -** _"_ _I've read the Fanfiction before, but I drew no inspiration from it, instead drawing it from the original work: "Youjo Senki_ _" or "The Saga of Tanya the Evil." None of the characters are the same so it's not a crossover, just a bit of awesomeness by mixing different ideas._

 **-MadameGuillotineTheSeraph -** _"_ _..._ _"_

 **-** **writegood** **-** _"_ _I loved reading your review. Thanks for the kind words of encouragement._ _"_

 **-006Sam -** _"First off -_ _Your gay; and the victim complex was 100% intentional to stress the existence of her mental disorders. If you hated the story as much as you pretend you wouldn't be spending your time trying to deconstruct the reality of the scenarios. If you want to have an intellectual conversation over your opinions rather than you spouting them off as if they are godspoken facts, then come at me ._ _"_

 **-Smiling Seshat -** _ **"**_ _Definitely heavily inspired by Youjo Senki. I purposely left out anything about mentions of Youjo Senki because I don't plan to use either Being-X's original personality, or Tanya's, but Yeah I might need to add a note at the beginning just stating that._ **-NOT Youjo Senki Crossover, instead only drawing inspiration from it-** _"_

 **-** **Nobels** **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for pointing out the correction. I'll remember to make those changes in the future. Don't sit in your chair too easy, because the dark element's will continue to return, however instead of shit being heaped on Mina, Mina is the one that starts heaping the shit. She's crafting herself into the defect she plans to become."_

 **-** **The-Killer40513** **\- "** _Half of the characters personality is inspired by the main character from Youjo Senki, as well as the concept about the god, however I didn't want to use either Being-X's or Tanya's authentic personality so I decided not to make it a crossover and instead left it purposely ambiguous."_

 **-** **Thewaydude -** _ **"**_ _Thanks. About those moment's with Neji, I got you a bit in the future mate."_

 _ **-CHIYuii**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Luckily you don't need to make a decision whether it's good or bad yet. Just stay along for the ride and find out along the way._ _ **"**_

 _ **-AscheriitXL**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I feel you. She isn't a true antagonist yet, still has a ways to go, but I can't just jump straight in tho sadly, where's the fun in that?_ _ **"**_

 _ **-Kaliedo**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Genetic predisposition. As a child so young, I find it incredibly unlikely to be able to fight off such strong genetic inclinations despite having advanced knowledge and intelligence. She certainly doesn't respect her mother, she just subconsciously wants her. At that point she died she was only two. I need to develop the character into the antagonist the story needs. Fear not though, if you don't love the main character, there will be two OC's added at a later date which oppose her and some of the story will be from their perspectives._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Luana LS**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Oh, starting between challenges is a light interpretation haha. Glad your enjoying it, would like to hear more of your opinions._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Ishari RB**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Yikes indeed!_ _ **"**_

 _ **-EVERYthingGOES88**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your words of encouragement!_ _ **"**_

 _ **-SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Currently, she is attracted to women, but is unsure of herself. This chapter you can see some hints of attraction to Hinata and a complex she has. Her pairing isn't set in stone yet, but I think I'm pretty sure who I'm going to pick, and how I want to execute it. -Spoilers- ITS A MALE. Because of this, I see myself Writing more of the romance from the perspective of that character so the story doesn't snowball into some type of weird Semi(Yaoi-Slash) who-knows-what but there will still be some scenes in her perspective._

 _Also: She's thought about acquiring the Rinnegan however after making her puppet she really don't have another good opportunity unless she manages to awaken it in Sasuke and take his eyes/ make him a puppet. I personally don't think Mina would strive for either of those yet, so she has her focus set on more immediate goals. As far as Extending her lifespan, she as a 7 year old probably doesn't need to worry about that yet, only self-preservation so that she can survive to do it later._ _ **"**_

 _ **-**_ _ **ThePirateQueen367**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Yup, psychopathic, machiavellian, self loathing, prideful, and incredibly driven to see her aspirations succeed. The Character is inspired a bit by imagining my consciousness mixed with Tanya's from Youjo Senki._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Mysterious Goat**_ **-** _ **"**_ _It was my pleasure. I try my best to make the characters come alive but I've only learned so many tools to do it. Hopefully my arsonal gets more plentiful because with that at my fingertips i'll be an author to be feared._ _ **"**_

 _ **-ShotoGun**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Speaking of getting burnt out… lmfao, I ended up taking a bit of a break from my writing to work on alot of other things I'd been neglecting tunneling on my story so hard. I like to get crack shit out and get it done before working on something else, so when I work on the story it consumes me. Thanks for your words of praise for my writing quality. Lately I've been focusing on it a bit more… and I still gotta go through and make all those edits to the early chapters._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Zdraco**_ **-** _ **"**_ _glad that you can keep reading new chapters and it's still refreshing. Shisui in my opinion would be an awesome instructor I would go crazy for. I breifly considered moving the timeframe so that Mina would enter the academy around the same time as Itachi, but i ended up deciding against it, and had planned on Shisui being the sensei LEL._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Sage Mode Madara**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I'm glad your liking the story so far! Hopefully my long break from the story doesn't detract from the greatness._ _ **"**_

 **-Irina Akashira** _ **-**_ _"_ _Thanks for your continued support!_ _"_

 _ **-**_ _ **Parodia the Silent**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Yeah, well their choice to torture her is irreversible, the only way to prevent her resentment would be to somehow wipe the memory or kill her. They picked their poison._ _ **"**_

 _ **-**_ **APimpNamedSlimpback** **-** _ **"**_ _Hey there dude, Always gotta keep an eye out for a leg up on the competition, even if most of the competitors don't know how to compete. Someone's got to pave the path._ _ **"**_

 _ **-The Jingo**_ **-** _ **"**_ _My last update was pretty quick, this one was pretty slow, does that mean I'll get a slow review? xD - If your feeling up to hit hit me with a PM and tell me your thoughts on the chapter and on the upcoming events :)_ _ **"**_

 _ **-thepowerfullkira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _The Sharingan's abilities are so plentiful and strong, but also readily manifestible. The Tenseigan she still wants, but she has far less of an idea of how to unlock it, so you're just going to have to wait until she fan find out more about it._ _ **"**_

 **-** **Tigaier** **-** _ **"**_ _You foolish nonbeliever, fear not, I will be here to occasionally remind you just how twisted Mina is becoming. More is in your future."_

 **-SteveTheBeast** _ **-**_ _ **"**_ _love that I was able to lead you on like that, sometimes being blindsided is exactly what you want when your a reader, even if you didn't know it ;)"_

 _ **-medistr**_ **-** _ **"WTF**_ _Absolutely, that response is what I intended for the readers :D_ _ **"**_


	27. Chapter 23

**Article 27 - Chapter 23 - Lost in Time**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _I've recently been playing a bit of League of Legends again, and am utterly shocked at just how horrible I've become._ _ **My skills have vastly deteriorated.**_ Anyways, If anyone wants to play with me or help coach me, hit me up in a PM on FFN **(Add your summoner name or Discord info.)** \- _[PS. I'm a dirty Riven one trick atm.]_

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

 _ ***BTW, heres 5k words :)***_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

My eyes and the eyes of the captive where in a heated deadlock until I decided to take my leave.

As I left I felt the stares of additional eyes trained on me… It would seem that I can't remove my mask anymore. Like many of the most eccentric actors, I would live my part like Heath Ledger with his portrayal of the Joker. I will become the Izuna of Obito's fantasies to be sure I am never exposed.

I could see the Zetsu which attempted to spy on me with my byakugan. I couldn't help but notice him, noticing that I spotted him, and a sadistic smile appeared on the face of black Zetsu.

 _Playing anything but my part will be dangerous. I still have so much work left to do...The saying rings true._ _There is no rest for the wicked_ _._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 23 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina** _Alibi Clone_ **POV)**

The dark sky overhead seemed to stretch endlessly only being blocked by heavy grey clouds which swirled and drifted about. The Illumination of the full moon broke through the gaps of the clouds pouring extra light into the environment. The grassy ground felt cold to my partially exposed back and made my skin itch.

 _What is the necessity that clothing designers seem to believe women's clothing needs to continually have more open space and holes? I guess I can see the appeal as a spectator, but now actually being the person wearing it, I wanted to cringe at the lack of practicality._

The leaves in the trees around were rustled by the gentle breeze that swept through the forest.

I rotated my head to the side to peer at the girl beside me. She lightly shivered with a look of awe resting on her face. It was becoming continually more difficult to peel my attention away from the girl. My blood felt warm even if in places my skin was becoming colder. An irksome yearning kept tugging at my lustful temperance.

The intoxicating and overwhelming desire called to me causing my arm to scoot closer to the free hand which laid limp on the ground.

 _What am I doing? Am I incapable of self-control? It's only the allure of wanting what I can't have…_

My heartbeat picked up in tempo as my eye focused on the delicate bleached skin of the heir.

 _Purely theoretically, is there any advantages to coming onto the heir? It's very likely it will only be problematic._

My sensibility reminded me of the outweighed cons which would likely plague me if I chose to dismiss caution and instead follow my heart.

A deep tired sigh escaped my lips. It felt good to let it out, to express my discontent in such a simplistic way.

My ears picked up the recognizable crunch of grass underfoot. I perceived the familiar chakra approaching, so I didn't need to even acknowledge their arrival with an early glance.

"Mina? Lady Hinata?" The voice called out.

It was not the voice of someone who doubted our identity, instead filled with confidence.

"Neji?" I responded in the same fashion causing a faint grin to spread on his face.

"Hiashi-sama asked me to fetch both of you."

Hinata slowly pushed herself off the ground and onto her feet. By now she was no stranger to the clans expectations and her own responsibilities.

"I wonder if there are more creamsicles…" she said softly.

"Your worried about creamsicles?" Neji asked in critical judgement.

She closed her mouth and her face sunk to the ground having been shamed by the boy.

I wanted to hit him for subjecting her to even more reasons to be self conscious and timid, but I understood the contempt Neji held toward her and could tell he was displeased to find me around her. He knew it was a clan responsibility but he always acted a bit different when seeing her and myself together.

 _I wonder if he even realizes that his actions look like jealousy._

After he noticed my attention focused on him, he scoffed and walked back the direction he came.

His footfalls became more distant traversing away while we composed ourselves and were about to make our way back to the alternate base.

Hinata brushed her hands over her clothing, dusting herself off and I followed suit.

"I wonder what Hiashi-sama wants…" I said.

"...probably to assess my behavior during the banquette."

 _I could imagine Hashi calling us back simply to complain of the lack of grace Hinata acted with. How do they expect her to improve if they only plan to use negative reinforcement to correct her behavior? Plus she is still but a child. she has too many expectations on her shoulders._

"I could save us some time by doing it instead. _'You can't do anything right girl, whatever you feel like doing, do the opposite! Then maybe you'll do something right._ '"

Inside my head, my comment seemed much funnier, but to my dejection, I seemed to have hurt her instead.

"I'm sorry… It just angers me how they treat you… It's unfair" I said.

 _Well… The whole world is unfair, but surely sympathizing with her could help her feel less alone, less ostracized._

"I deserve it… I just can't seem to get anything right!" She wailed. Tears began forming in her eyes, spilling and cascading down her cheeks.

"You don't-" I started.

"-I'm better off dead. Why couldn't you have been born the heir, you are so much more suited to it…"

My hands reached out and clasped the shoulders of the emotion struck girl. Her breathing labored as she used her sleeves to hide her face as she attempted to compose herself.

"Don't say that… Those idiots opinions are meaningless, you are the heir, so soon the only opinion that will matter are yours and those who are closest to you."

One of her hands found her way to my wrist and weakly pushed it off her shoulder. She sniffled, put on a fake smile, and thanked me weakly.

I recognized her act as a mask… something I was all too familiar with.

A hot inferno of emotion burned through me as I imagined Hinata following in my footsteps and sacrificing everything that made her special.

I don't know why… but I panicked.

 _Slaaaap._

The heir ceased crying and wheezing, instead staring at me with a dumbfounded expression with the red imprint of a handmark on her face.

 _Oh no… What did I just do? What is wrong with me? I'm going to pay for that… Well fuck it._

I pulled her into my arms, into my embrace, and I nuzzled my lips against her ear. "I won't allow you to be anything but genuine with me -ya hear?"

Her body convulsed in my grip, she tried to fight my hold weakly but quickly started squeezing me back. Pants of emotion escaped her with more vigour.

"Whenever you need to talk, just come to me." I whispered into her ear as I rocked her back and forth.

Her hands clutched at the fabric of my dress, no doubt wrinkling it in the process.

"Thank you… Thank you so much." Hinata gasped.

A flame burnt inside my soul making me feel so warm. _Even as unhappy as I am, at least I can still be a positive influence. Perhaps I'm not the monster I think I am._

Her hands innocently explored over my back… our cheeks still touching as we held one another.

I briefly imagined pinning her to the ground and kissing her while exploring her body with more freedom.

… _Nope, I'm still the monster._

I pulled away but managed to snag Hinata's hand and interlocked my fingers between hers.

I used a finger from my spare hand to wipe away the tears that stained her complexion. A shy smile crept onto Hinata's face. She had visibly brightened, practically illuminating beneath the moon. Her mood was leagues ahead of earlier even letting out a giggle.

Her hand tightened and squeezed my own and our eyes met.

"I'll... never forget your kindness."

Guilt rose in me… I didn't know if what I had done could be truly called kindness, but I would be remiss to not acknowledge her gesture.

"It's no problem, you are, after all, among my very favorite from the clan."

She bashfully looked away while her face began reddening.

"W-Why?" She asked.

"Because you are hard working, intelligent, and underappreciated."

 _-Also compliant, innocent, and submissive._ I thought.

Her smile widened at my words. I could tell I was playing my cards right.

She tugged my arm excitingly leading the way back. Her mood had effectively done a 180° turn.

The breeze gushed past us as we ran, likely looking like lunatics, through the forest, but we paid no mind to our laughter in the air.

 _I suppose I should make the best of what I have while I have it. I won't make the same mistake twice Ayasha… I'll appreciate the people I have while I have them. Just tunnel on the positive... Or I fear I will drive myself insane._

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

The scalpel tore effortlessly through the flesh while the body hung suspended from the ceiling. I had restrained the feet and hung the body upside down for an easier way to drain the corrosive blood that was already at work breaking down the chakra system inside the body. Cleaning and then using _Sasori's preservation method_ in a timely manner was the most important aspect to outright stopping the decomposition of the specimen.

The blood was being fed through a tube and into a container for later use. The blood would no doubt also go bad if left unattended so it was necessary to add anticoagulants to the container continuously. The correct ratio seemed to be somewhere between 1/9th and 1/10th the anticoagulants to the volume of blood.

The scalpel surgically sliced over and over, following the diagram as precise as I could manage. After the body had been opened and cleaned, the next step was the priming of the flesh with the chemical concoction.

I picked up the paintbrush and dipped it into the solution, drawing it out, careful not to waste any of the precious materials so that there would be enough for the remaining two future puppets.

The brush ran over the surface of the flesh, firstly the inside and slowly making my way out until I could close the body and apply it to the exterior.

"This process is quite intriguing…"

I didn't bother to acknowledge Obito's comment as he watched me. I was too preoccupied trying to fight off the smell from gagging me and making sure my craftsmanship was top notch.

As I finished the 'paint job,' I needed to apply heat to complete the chemical seal which acted like a fast acting petrification.

I slumped down grabbing the glass container filled with the mother's blood. The still warm fluid leaked warmth through the glass into my hand. I reached out pulling a handle and opening the door before me, placing the container into the refrigeration unit.

 _Onto the next steps..._

I didn't have a kiln made specifically for this (like suggested in the notes), so instead I had to make due with what I had. (At the very least for this trial specimen.)

Obito's hands flashed in and out of hand signs masterfully before his palms ignited.

I held the thermometer 12 inches from his palms until he hit the sweet spot of 325 degrees. After that, Obito skillfully maintained the heat and approached the body, rotating around the body slowly, holding his palms a foot from the skin.

This was going to be a lengthy process… Lengthy but invaluable. I couldn't help but to be hopeful. I was so very close to a long time aspiration.

I felt the edges of my lips pull my mouth into an undoubtedly sadistic smile. I wouldn't wait, I was almost there...

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

My hands trembled in anticipation. The procedure for making the human puppet was successful! All that was left was to attempt to awaken the _Eternal Mangekyo sharingan_.

The path the kunai carved through the air caused it to strike and dig into the wood. It was far from the bulls-eye I had aimed for.

 _Worthless. Is all my practice meaningless? Why can't I steady my hand?_

I was worked up over the plan. I couldn't wait for the kid to try to make a run for it- _Literally_. I was trying to calm myself down with some Kunai practice, however it only served to rile me up more. My shaking hands couldn't manage to put any of the kunai on target.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath… Breathing slow in… and out…

I painted the image of the kunai in the bulls-eye in my head. I drew the trajectory to my target in my mind. I focused on the form of my arm and the my grip to make sure it was perfect.

 _Anything less than perfect is unacceptable._

I swung my arm and released the tool. It cut into the air sailing through the air before impacting the wood with a _Thunk_.

I felt my eye twitch as dark emotions pulsed through me.

 _ **Missed again! You're kidding! -but the form should have been perfect?! What is wrong with me?!**_

I pulled my hands in front of my face, watching each finger shake and twitch about. My stomach grumbled unhappily alerting me to the hunger sneakily hidden beneath the blanket of distractions.

I didn't have the right food to feed my body around here, so instead I opened a package of crackers, popping one into my mouth.

As I crunched into it and tore it to shreds in my mouth, the sensation of sugar and salt swirled about my palate.

 _Glucose, A.K.A. Carbohydrates are the most efficient way to sustain the body. It makes it easy to overload, but at the same time you still need some. Regulating insulin levels is very important to both feeling productive and crafting the ideal body._

The sugar began breaking down, gradually coursing through my veins, and finally putting an end to my incessantly shaking hands.

 _It so easy to overlook the simple, especially when so many thoughts are floating inside my head._

My lips pressed together into a smile, my eyes trained on my target.

Inside my mind, I pictured Orochimaru's face on the log, the bulls-eye in the center of the forehead.

My arm flung forward and I let go of my grip on the kunai. Like the kunai was tracing my imaginary trajectory in my head, it sailed through the air and into the bulls-eye.

 _Yes!_

My tongue swirled about within my mouth, pressing into my teeth.

I couldn't wait for the opportunity to kill him… for the chance to present itself.

I was no longer fearful even if realistically I knew I was far inferior. I briefly wondered if I could sick Obito on Orochimaru like a dog, but I didn't want to reveal my personal aspirations so soon, so instead I would paint myself as the marvelous revolutionary pawn Obito desperately wants.

A certain memory kept nagging at me. No matter how many times I push it aside, It keeps coming back. The memory like a cancer I couldn't escape from…

…

 **(Flashback)**

"Come sit next to me." The man said as he tapped the couch cushion signaling me to sit.

I wasn't sure why he wanted me to sit by him, but I doubted it could be for any _good_ reason.

I set my equipment along the floor against the hallway wall before turning back and entering the living room.

I walked with steady practiced steps to him and sat beside him like he instructed.

"I've… uh, how are you doing?" He asked.

" _Fine_ …"

His eyes narrowed and I could tell he was critical of my response.

"Ayasha is gone and she's not coming back, but she would be rolling over in her grave if she saw you now."

His words cut surprisingly deep, like I somehow didn't already know, but just doing what she would have wanted isn't the same as honoring her memory.

"How dare you! You think Ayasha would be happy with how fast you got over her? -or how friendly you've become with the bottom of the bottle?" I said fuming.

He choked up, coughing gently to cover it up.

"-Your not allowed to say things like that, I won't let you-" I yelled.

 _Oops… that didn't come out right at all..._

"-I'm still committed to Ayasha's memory unlike you!" I finished.

 _What am I saying?_

Tears spilled down from the mans red eyes and my mistake was cemented in my mind. His hand reached out and grabbed ahold of my arm with a firm constricting grasp.

"You have to let her go… Never forget her, but you have to move past this or _you-_ you'll be 'stuck' forever."

"-' _Stuck_?!' I think I'd prefer to be ' _stuck_ ' than instead drown my sorrows or pretend like everything is fine. Unlike you, I _understand_ the sentiment of loyalty."

 _This man is clueless. He looks like a puppet with its strings cut and he thinks he can preach to me? He says move past her, but how can I when Orochimaru still breathes? -and then there's Being-X that no doubt let it come to this._

"You have a choice… You can hold that resentment and let it ruin you… -Or you can move past this and maybe find happiness. I don't want to see you walk down that road... of resentment."

"What would you know of resentment? I don't think you have a resentful bone in your body! I don't want to hear it, just leave me alone and continue drinking yourself into a stupor."

 _I was being incredibly childish lashing at him this hard… Why was I doing it? It's not his fault I feel like this, I just don't want to hear any of his lectures. I didn't want them and they were not welcome._

"I know far more about it than you. Listen to me, im older and wiser... despite how smart you think you are." He said.

 _Yes - I'm sure, my 28 years of life are inconsequential compared to your 23. I see! It makes so much 'sense'._

"I'm going to my room." I announced before turning away.

"Mina, I'm serious! You can't keep going like this."

"I'm fine, _drop it_."

…

 _Do I even understand the sentiment of loyalty? I'm 100 percent invested in loyally burning the corpse of Orochimaru. To expunge him like the blight he is from this world. To get true recompense… it's justice no?_

My mind burned and it hurt. My overactive brain has been in overdrive all day and I felt a headache was coming on.

I pressed my fingertips into my forehead and massaged hoping to soothe the pain.

 _Why was I such an obnoxious asshole to him? If he treated me that way it would be unacceptable…_

My mind hummed. _Sure, Tokuma eased into his life without Ayasha...Unlike me._ _ **\- BUT HOW CAN I BE TOLD TO ACCEPT THE UNACCEPTABLE?**_

I rested my forehead on a palm and ran my fingers compulsively though my hair, the silky texture caressing the skin.

 _I must pay my respects to Ayasha. I will not betray my loyalty. I am not like Tokuma who could just let go. To forget. Sure, it's no doubt easier when your as medicated as him - but doing that would be the same as discarding my pride, my honor._

I looked down to the pendant that hung at my neck. The azure light refracted from the sapphire's surface made it appear like it was glowing.

I already knew what must be done. Going over it again and again never seems to help, and that's the reason I've discarded my fear and doubt.

 _Orochimaru must die, and how ironic that I could destroy him with the weapon he covets from the bottom of his soul?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Zetsu started twitching about, catching my attention from the corner of an eye.

 _What is it?_

I picked myself up from my seat as I watched Obito's back straighten.

"The Uchiha is on the move!" Zetsu announced with a dastardly grin.

 _As many times as I've seen that smile… it still chills me to the bones._

"I'll make sure the Genjutsu is as subtle as possible. I'm incredibly curious to see if this works." the masked figure spoke.

A distortion appeared in a circular vortex which Obito stepped through and vanished. The distortion closed sealing back into normalcy.

 _Another thing I will never get used to. Teleportation… It's absolutely incredible._

Zetsu pulled himself into the wall through his root system. At last the only people remaining in the room was myself and an incapacitated Leon Uchiha.

The ambient silence unsettled me, only being broken each second by the faint tick of the clock. I pulled together my focus and condensed it entering a new realm of concentration. "Byakugan!"

My true vision flicking on let me notice an absolutely silent and stealthy intruder skulking about the corridors. _He was looking for where Leon was stored._

 _It's a shame that his loyalty to his family was for naught… If I were him, I would curse my powerlessness and inability till my final moments._

The clock upon the wall _ticked_ with reckless abandon, being the only noise in the vicinity.

I could tell that the Uchiha had just fallen prey to the trap. The corridor was filled with water, and through the use of hidden mirrors, the reflected sharingan was projected onto the puddle's surface. The man never stopped moving, seemingly never noticing he had already been caught in the genjutsu.

Within minutes he finally reached the door to our room. The door creaked open and through the crack, I saw the undeniable red glint of the sharingan. He saw me, and recognized I already had spotted him.

A pulse of chakra spiked behind my eyes alerting me to a genjutsu despite being able to see completely through it. He swung the door open and jolted into the room. He weaved afew hand signs as he moved and moved to trap me into the corner.

"Neeko Uchiha… How regrettable that it comes to this…" I said while stretching and connecting my chakra threads to the puppet at my side.

 _It seems seeing the puppet has forced him into a lack of focus. His hand signs have completely stopped._

A look of absolute horror appeared on the teens face as the form of his mother jankly hovered forward.

" **What you've done is unforgivable!"** He bellowed.

"I'm sorry… I fully intended to keep your brother alive." I lied. "-But now that you've given up on helping us, you've left me no choice…"

He jerked towards the puppet, but I was faster, the puppet ran its palm across the throat of Leon. The tube disguised against his neck opened causing the pressure in the system to push out the container's contents.

The crimson blood leaked out, spilling onto the floor in spurts.

 _Obito… I hope you got this right._

" **RRWAAAAAAAAGAH,"** The teen exploded in a fit of rage.

I pushed my skeleton past my skin creating my strongest defense.

The teens hands came together in a fury, blitzing signs in a race to smite the evil before him… me.

A puff of smoke and flame erupted filling the room. My lungs burned, but I still felt a dangerous fit of joy.

" **~AGHHHAAAA!~"**

Neeko's eyes transitioned before my vision as he screamed in pain. Chakra encircled him, almost appearing like a swirling cloak of fog. It's color turned from pure gold to a deep dreadful red.

Roots sprung from the walls catching the man's hands and twisting around him. It rapidly expanded over his body forming a white suit over the figure which even covered his face, smothering the MS behind a wooden mask.

My heart palpitated within my chest. _What is this feeling?!_

An eerie ringing noise like static sounded in my ears forcing me to cover them with my hands.

" **MUUUUUUUUURRRRGHHH!"** The muffled screams rung beneath the mask.

The space around me started glowing and crackling. It seemed as if the space around me had transformed into the visuals of a retro television. Black and white sparks seemed to burn the air and each moment seemed to linger. It was as if time played slower. Each tick of the clock seemed to come slower... and slower….. disorienting my _internal clock_.

"Possession complete!" Zetsu cheered in joy while pushing himself out from the wall.

The environment shifted back to normal.

The familiar buzz of distortion sounded in my ears, causing my head to turn to the side. I welcomed the noise over the strange occurrence which had just unfolded.

"Truly impressive! I still can't believe it! **Evolution without a death!** Izuna, I could kiss you."

It was quite the strange sentiment, but I understood it because of the massive achievement we accomplished.

 _I couldn't believe it either… I thought that the chances were against us despite being hopeful._

"I believe a celebration is in order" I said pridefully.

"Shall I crack open some wine?" Zetsu asked innocently.

My thoughts traversed back to Tokuma and his condition.

"I'm probably still a bit too young… I don't want to stunt my cognitive development."

A grim smile appeared on black zetsu at my words, like my comment was some sort of inside joke that was lost on me.

"Time right now is precious, I still need to slaughter the clan momentarily, so let's jump straight into the eye transplants." Obito said.

A maniacal cackle sounded and echoed within the tunnels.

" **MAGNIFICENT!"** Zetsu yelled, enthused.

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Had to pump out a new chapter for the fans. A lot of thought went into trying to pull this chapter off so I hope you guys enjoy. IF you have any questions or comments about the plot, characters, ect go ahead and leave me a review! I respond to all of them at the end of every chapter, so if you leave one check the bottom of each chapter to find your responses!

 **Reviewer Question: - What is your favorite videogame of all time? Mine would probably be a 3 way tie, Castlevania: SoTN (XBLA), League of Legends, and Oldschool Runescape.**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS and COMMENTS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-**_ _Guest_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks, lmao._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Re Fenrir**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your reviews. I could practically see your journey through the story through the crumbtrail of thoughts that were your comments. It seems you have joined the revolution against the infamous Being-X. Death to the incompetent, selfish, and arrogant god!_ _ **"**_

 _ **-WPUrchezem23**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Ohh indeed it's everywhere. So many possibilities, I wouldn't want to ruin the trajectory of the plot by being too forward. You as a reader need to snuff out the red herrings and the important data if you want to have true understanding in the story. This will become easier and easier as more content is launched. Have fun ;)_ _ **"**_

 _ **-ShotoGun**_ **-** _ **"**_ _What you expected huh? Well you did have some spoilers ;) hmm? Indeed Henge is a physical transformation, however the Sharingan, or at the very least, the advanced sharingan (Likely 3 tomoe/MS/EMS) should be able to see through it to, at the very least, recognize that the form you take is a transformation. I plan on establishing the Henge metagame soon to further explain its strengths and weaknesses in my slightly adjusted universe._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Zdraco**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I'm not going to lie… I kinda did like Naruto's 'Talk no Jutsu' but watching him do it repeatedly to solve his problems left a bad taste in my mouth. I will spoil you right now and say that "Talk no Jutsu" will not be used on Being-X. The name 'Being-X' was plucked from the Anime and Light novel series 'Youjo Senki' however, my Being-X has a completely different personality and motivations. Do not expect a cookie cutter copy of Youjo Senki's lore._ _ **"**_

 _ **-thepowerfullkira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _That would be cool. As much emphasis as I spent on that part, people are meant to wonder if perhaps someone did notice something ;) -I wonder, guess we'll have to find out later in the story or you can PM me for spoilers._ _ **"**_

 _ **-**_ _ **lizyeh2000**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your support. I see it took two reviews from you to convert you to a follower, I'll make sure to attempt to hold your attention and not disappoint!_ _ **"**_

 _ **-lubabpaul**_ **-** _ **"**_ _-And Thank you for your words of support. I appreciate it greatly._ _ **"**_

 _ **-milpld**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I purposely left that information ambiguous. It's up to your own interpretation until the story continues. IF you really cant stand not knowing shoot me a PM and I'll spoil you :)_ _ **"**_

 _ **-QueenLadle**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Yup, honestly… I did a somewhat bad job at waiting to develop her language skills because of how different Japanese is from English, but we could also chalk it up to the increased ability to learn at a young age, and still having the same basic mentality and memories from her last life giving herself a huge edge in that department._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your continued support. Everytime I see one of your comments I smile and I'm thankful you're still with me :)_ _ **"**_

 _ **-writegood**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Oh I know lol! By the time Heath has encountered Itachi in the akatsuki then mina will have presumably already leaked to Sasuke that the massacre was direction from the village, and if Itachi finds out it was Mina who told him?_ _ ***Phew***_ _, I wouldn't want to be Mina then._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Weewoo Weaboo**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your stupendous rating. It's always a nice feeling to know that a reader is enjoying my work. Because you enjoyed it so much, I'd love to hear your favorite parts in future reviews and if you think there is anything I can improve on! Thanks_ _ **"**_


	28. Chapter 24

**Article 28 - Chapter 24 - The Meaning of Sacrifice**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Got writer's block HARD during this chapter. Can't even tell you how many hours it took me to pump out this much content with how slow I was writing. Hopefully next chapter comes more naturally, but anyways, here's 6k words for you all._

 _ ***** Call To Action: Looking for someone capable of being an editor/proofreader. Also accepting Beta's to hear opinions about chapters before I release the final draft to FFN (If you're interested, hit me up with a PM. Thank You!)*****_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

"Time right now is precious, I still need to slaughter the clan momentarily, so let's jump straight into the eye transplants." Obito said.

A maniacal cackle sounded and echoed within the tunnels.

" **MAGNIFICENT!"** Zetsu yelled, enthused.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 24 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina** _Alibi Clone_ **POV)**

Sweat pooled on my brow. The sun beat down bathing me in both light and heat. My palms flew out striking the wooden dummy systematically without failure. The slight pain of my hands and shins spurring me into a frenzy.

I accelerated my pace more… and more.

Ragged pants fell ungraciously from my mouth as I flung my palm into the neck pad finishing the array.

 _If I weren't a clone and had all my chakra, how much faster would I have been? 3 seconds? -maybe 4?_

"Splendid! 59 seconds, under a minute already! Hinata, take note of her form. You still have much to learn." Hiashi announced.

The compliment at the expense of Hinata's self-esteem felt empty. _Surely rejoicing in it would feel wrong._

"Tch." Neji let out narrowing his eyes. He slowly rolled his shoulders and pulled his arms trying to limber up.

"Next."

The prodigious boy eagerly squared up with the dummy, waiting at attention in a ready stance.

Hiashi stared at his watch holding a finger silently indicating " _Not yet…"_

" **Start!"** he commanded.

Neji's form was artwork in itself. Jealousy leaked into my consciousness, but I quickly staved it off knowing that my power was shortly going to skyrocket.

 _Still… it's so beautiful. Even with wonderful genetics, there is no way I could keep up with him if we had the same tools. Even to get a sub-minute I had to reduce my bone density so my arms could move faster._

Neji's strikes clapped the wood in a rhythmic symphony like it were an instrument. The tempo steadily increasing becoming faster and faster. _**Pop, pop, pop.**_

Kicks and knees flew seamlessly into his non-stop barrage.

 _This is it. This is why the Hyuga refuse to change. If_ _ **everyone**_ _in the clan was capable of this, I might even be hard pressed to argue against their methods._

Neji blitzed his way through the finishing strikes flawlessly ending it with a palm strike savagely to the neck.

"53 seconds! Brilliant, your improvements never cease to amaze me. At least ' _you two'_ might be able to carry the clan to new heights."

I observed Hinata's shoulders and face drop in shame igniting an animosity inside me as well as making my stomach drop like I was experiencing the sharp descent of a rollercoaster.

I fought to swallow my discontent by pulling my attention back to Neji's display.

"That was awesome! Neji you are amazing!" I shouted causing a satisfied grin to appear on his face before disappearing entirely. "~wasn't that amazing Hinata? Don't you think Neji is a true talent? I don't know if even I can catch up to his skills."

 _Remember be positive._

Neji's lips curled into a frown, turning his back to us pretending not to be listening.

"That's not true, unlike me you have skill. You can do it, I know it!" Hinata barked uncharacteristically.

 _Well, this is new…_

Hinata seemed to realize what she had just said. Her face began reddening resembling a tomato.

"Thanks for your vote of confidence Hinata, but you can improve too. Don't be so down on yourself." I replied.

Now with the morning session concluded, Neji stormed off with heavy feet seeming to be throwing a small tantrum.

 _ **Neji, what do you want from me? To completely ignore her?! You know I can't do that!**_

My shallow allegiances tugged for control. Whispers saying to stay with Hinata, while others told me to chase Neji. I felt like I was being used like a rope in a tug of war. Neither side wanted to see progress for the other, instead gripping and tugging harder.

I leaned over so that I could whisper something to Hinata.

"I'm going to go check on Neji." I said.

Her eyes begged me to stay, but a soft and gentle smile arrived on her face. "I understand."

My eyes leaked my unhappiness at her comment, no doubt reminding her of our conversation last night causing her to grip and squeeze her wrist shyly.

 _I'll have to discipline her later for not being upfront._

My feet raced to make up the ground for my indecisiveness.

 _I know Neji is still a kid, but I didn't expect him to act this childish._

Monstrous trees passed by me as I kicked my speed up further. The soft taps of my feet impacting the ground played in my ears. The soil was still soft from the rain which fell yesterday.

I came up on a hill, charging up it confidently until reaching the top, Neji's back entering my vision.

 _For a task so simple, there was no need for the byakugan._

He turned around having heard my approach looking confused and perhaps a bit annoyed.

"Neji~ wait up!" I called out.

A smirk appeared on his face, and he turned back around breaking into a sprint.

 _What the?_

I broke into a sprint as well. _If I wasn't just a clone, I would be using clones and substitutions to gain ground faster._

I leaned further forward, pressing off the ground with as much force as I could feasibly and reasonably produce through my toes.

 _Still, I'm thankful that somehow the clan hasn't noticed my diminished chakra reserves and realized that I was just a clone yet._

Neji ran and ran, not able to pull further ahead, yet I couldn't close the gap at all.

I chased and chased, finding myself wondering if he would ever stop.

His strides slowed until he stalled completely, leaning over and supporting himself by resting his elbows above each knee gasping for air.

The sting in my lungs was welcomed, but I appreciated that he finally stopped. My nostrils greedily sucked in air and I let it out in a huff from my mouth. My heartbeat began slowing.

"Neji?" I asked still puzzled why he was so upset.

"Purely hypothetically… Say we weren't made to protect the family… And to fight off the village's enemies... What do you think our purpose is?" He asked.

 _ **Thump.**_ **"...** Excuse me?" I let out questionably.

 _Am I hearing things? Surely he didn't just…_

"~What do you suggest could be _our_ purpose?"

I couldn't stop it, I realized too late. My lips curled into a grin.

"Neji, we could do anything. We could abolish the side branch by consolidating the clan. We could-"

"-Do you know what your saying? Can _you_ hear yourself?" he exclaimed.

 _-Okay? I guess he wants me to 'sell' it to him. Fear not, I'm no slouch in salesmanship._

"Why do you think I've been spending so much time with the heir?" I questioned.

Neji grew quiet, compulsively grabbing his chin while he sifted through his thoughts.

"...Say that I believe you've been gaining her confidence all this time simply for this plan of yours. What if she doesn't even become the clan head? What if Hinabi becomes the head instead?"

 _Tch. You really don't want to make this easy for me do you?_

"I'm also slowly gaining favor from strong political parties. The Hyuga's practices are unacceptable! You have suffered enough because of it to understand, haven't you?"

"-But...The main branch will never accept, and with _these_?" Neji said pointing a finger to his covered forehead. "-With _these,_ we will never see progress."

 _There is another card I can play… but is this the time to play it? I can only play it once… Should it be now?_

"... Neji, are you capable of keeping a secret? A secret with the same value as my life. Do you understand? If I trust you with this secret, it means I'm trusting you with my life."

Neji's obstinance melted and instead an unbecoming timid expression replaced it. He seemed to fight with himself for some time wordlessly before dragging his eyes back to mine.

"Absolutely."

His response was filled with confidence despite toiling with his answer moments before. I wasn't certain that he could be trusted, but never trusting anyone would only serve to impede progress and leave me all alone. _I didn't want to be alone._

" I believe I've found a way to remove the caged bird seal. It will take quite some time for preparations… years truthfully, but I'm certain I could break us both from them."

Sweat seeped from his skin drenching him and alerting me to his fear.

 _Come on, don't break on me now. I know inside you somewhere is the spirit of a revolutionary. I don't just hope, I know it damnit!_

"Neji, the safe and simple life is best left to the untalented and uninspired. Does the clans wrongdoings not spark a fire in your heart? Can you watch as your family is enslaved for generations? To witness your children and your children's children falling victim to the same cycle… All because of your fearful inaction?"

His lips quivered and tightened till he looked like he was on the verge of a breakthrough. _He's so close, just a little bit more._

"Neji?" I called out waiting for him to look at me again. "Did your father sacrifice himself for Hiashi just so you'd have to do the same for lady Hinata?"

A flame ignited in his eyes and his vial temperament leaked into the atmosphere awakening goosebumps on me. _Yes! Yes!_

"Absolutely not… My father always told me stories that the clan could change and how his brother would do it… My hopes died with him though."

"Then revive your hope and either carry it or place it in me. Be the man that your father always wanted to be. I promise I'll never quit trying, I'll fight to my very last breath."

His eyes became glassy reflecting the light brilliantly. His eyes shone for the first time in many long years. The dead eyes of hopelessness where nowhere to be found. The ghost that once lingered had been vanquished, A quiet force of nature awakening in its place.

"I...I want to soo bad. I always wanted to, but I always talked myself out of it, I didn't know how, it was always a foregone conclusion - Failure."

"-And now?" I asked excitingly.

"-And now I'll entrust my hopes to you. I'll assist you however I can."

"You realize revolutionaries sometimes must do terrible things? Change always comes at a cost. What is your version of acceptable cost?"

A tooth sunk into his lip, anger rising in a flash. "That's not for me to decide. I want to see your plans for change become reality, and any cost you're willing to pay, I'll find acceptable."

 _Yes! Yes! Neji you finally opened your eyes to this accursed world haven't you? You won't regret this. I won't let you. I'll take care of everything._

"Wonderful! Neji… thank you. Thank you for trusting me. I'll be sure to remember this for the rest of my life."

A smile crept onto both of our faces and I couldn't resist. I charged closer and wrapped my arms around Neji squeezing him. His welcoming warmth leaked into me soothing my fatigue.

 _Everything was going to work out. I've finally got someone on my side, and soon I would have unfathomable power. Just let me enjoy this victory a moment longer._

I clenched him even closer to myself. _Real allies and friends are precious commodities. Perhaps soon I won't need to wear my mask around him at all. What a lovely thought!_

"No, thank you. Thank you for waking me up. Without you I would've likely watched forever. I just don't want to regret anymore."

"I don't know if that's possible, but surely we'll have less regrets when we make progress, right?"

He solemnly nodded his head in agreement. My stomach lurched and tingled as I stared into his eyes. Excitement, breathlessness, confusion, eagerness, as well as a multitude more of feelings fought for control.

 _What is this?_ I asked myself.

His smile warmed my heart. _Was there a need to identify why? It was because he was there for me in a way no one else was, right?_

 _I couldn't be sure, but honestly I didn't care why. I was just thrilled to be happy. Wholeheartedly giddy._ I looked upon the future with joyous anticipation.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

I stood ramrod straight, absolutely at attention with both of my hands clasped behind my back. I was merely a spectator in this process. Eye surgery was not a well covered subject within my expanse knowledge of the narutoverse.

I had expected it to be difficult, yet a much more dumbed down process from which I could expect in my previous world because of the multitudes of jutsu which could be used to assist.

 _My assumptions? More or less confirmed._

While in the field, it would certainly be possible to make a hasty insertion and heal it enough to use it with medical ninjutsu, however it would later need to be adjusted and reattached professionally to get it's full applicable use.

Believe me when I tell you that Obito was quite the surgeon. His masterful work showed the yield of his great knowledge and excellent motor skills.

I looked on in awe. _His performance certainly commanded my respect, especially since three of these eyes would be my own._

"Ooo, Just... a few more seconds for these finishing touches." The man spoke while leaned over the tranquil body of Leon Uchiha.

My excitement undoubtedly leaked from me as I was unable to contain myself. _**SO VERY CLOSE.**_

Obito chuckled in acknowledgement. "It's been some time since you last had the sharingan, isn't that right?"

The hair on my neck stood on end. "Yes it has. Too long."

Obito's glowing hand left Leon's forehead then ending the jutsu. His head swung around stopping to peer at me.

"It's completed?" I asked in false confidence.

"Yes, the transplants are complete." He replied.

"Do you think they need to activate their sharingan once, or think I'm safe to kill them now?"

Obito remained silent continuing to pick up and put away the tools for the operation. After he finished, he turned around facing me. The red glint of the unmistakable sharingan poured out of his masks eyehole.

"Obito?" I asked.

My gut sunk alerting me to a _perceived_ danger.

 _Again? Stomach settle yourself. I'm just fine._

"Yes. Everything should be in order." He replied in monotone. "-I must go check on something, but before that… How would you feel about me picking out my own eye?"

 _His assistance was invaluable, but I was hoping to give him an eye after discovering their powers. At this point, I won't know what ability he'll gain which could be troublesome if we ever find ourselves enemies. Still… how could I deny him when he's done so much for me. It would be telegraphing my distrust and greed… How can I possibly say no?_

"I don't have any problems at all with that." I lied. "Thanks for your bountiful assistance."

"Heh." Obito let out approaching the two incapacitated teens.

He withdrew a tool from a tunic pocket beneath his cloak. It was a three pronged claw with a sturdy handle. There were small buttons and levers which controlled each prong of the claw. He lined the tool up, sticking it into the gap between the eye and eyelid, twisting it severing the connection.

He pulled his arm back and the eyeball squeezed out from the cavity leaving a gruesome hole in Neeko's head.

 _So he chose one of Neeko's eyes, hmm… I hope he doesn't receive the ability that seems to distort time. If Obito could distort time_ _ **AND**_ _space… that could be very bad._

He turned back to myself, dropping the eyeball into a jar filled with preservative solution then twisting the cap on.

"'Till next we meet Izuna." Obito spoke.

 _Why would he take the eye and then say this? Does he not plan to return?_

"Wait~ You're coming back after the massacre correct?"

Obito stopped in his tracks, never turning around to face me while he answered: "The massacre is a bit ahead of schedule than my original plans. There is still much I must do. I'm certain you can manage on your own, yes?"

"Oh, what if I ever need to contact you?" I asked.

 _Wait… Ahead of schedule? I wonder if in the cannon Narutoverse the massacre was also ahead of schedule… or if it was wasn't and this is instead is in line with the changes that now seemed to shout the massacres inevitability… If this is changed… what else has changed?_

"Zetsu!" Obito yelled bouncing off the walls.

A grinding noise beneath the depths sounded breaking to the surface. The plant-like-man sprout through the floor arriving to the beckoning call.

" **You called?!** " Zetsu exclaimed still writhing about.

"Loan Izuna your ring." He commanded.

A black tongue shot out of the figures mouth, squirming around while eyeing me.

"Is this ring important to you?" it asked in a dark mocking voice while stripping the green '亥' (Sign of the Boar) marked ring from their right little finger.

"It's my only way of communication with you all, So I suppose."

"Oh, is it?" It replied back in fake surprise.

 _Why does this seem so familiar?_

The arm reached out, dropping the ring into my outstretched palm. The heft cemented in my mind my entrance to the Akatsuki.

"Zetsu, You might need to come back and grab the ring when we catch a Jinchuriki, but till then, Izuna you are free to use that to leave a message to '零' (Zero) I'll be sure to let Nagato know what's going on later and he'll inform me if you ever message."

The space in front of Obito distorted into a swirling vortex that he quickly walked through, disappearing.

Zetsu stared at me a long while in silence now that we were alone.

"HaHaHA- **HAHAHA!** " he screamed. The devilish laughter making my blood briefly run cold.

 _Why does Zetsu unsettle me… soo much?_

The Plant-like-man retreated into the crack on the ground wearing a devious smile and glaring at me as he descended.

"Interesting. Very Interesting." He said.

They were his last parting words before riding out along the deep root system. My byakugan watched him as he left which soothed my anxiety. I was glad they were finally gone, but now I would need to work on building a kiln.

I grabbed the precious manuscript opening it to the page with the information on the Kiln. The diagram and notes tucked into the margins explained how to construct it which was a relief.

 _I shouldn't kill the boys yet or I risk the bodies decomposition - since the Kiln isn't ready yet, but there is only about 10 hours of tranquilizer left. I need to get a move on if I don't want to have to forcibly restrain an awake EMS user. This will be a race against the clock._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Itachi POV)**

"It's too late. We've failed. Even the Kotoamatsukami on your father wouldn't suffice to quell the flames of rebellion. The pride of the Uchiha make the coup inevitable."

I had fully expected the elders words. I had long since arrived at the same conclusion.

 _My family and the peace within the village could not coexist. A sacrifice would have to be made… My clans and my own sacrifice to stave off the revolutionary bloodshed. Why must humans be compelled to harm one other? Why does this world reward violence? -It sickens me._

"I understand. Are the accommodations made for Sasuke?" I asked.

 _Younger brother… Live and grow up far away from this worlds violence. Become strong, stronger than me or father. Become the new beacon of hope for the Uchiha now that my light is fading._

"Yes, I have… However, Itachi you've broken your promise, haven't you?"

 _What? I would never. I wouldn't risk Sasuke's life for anyone's… even Izumi's._

"Certainly not." I answered in confidence.

" **I TOLD YOU THAT ONLY SASUKE COULD BE SAVED. YOU DARE DEFY ME?!"**

 _I didn't defy any order, what is he doing? Checking my loyalty?_

"Sir, I have completed my assignments without fail and without notice." I replied.

I steepened my bow, still balanced on a knee, before the _'leaf's shadow'_.

" **LIAR!** Why is Jade Uchiha's residence vacant? -And why does it look like someone staged a battle inside as an excuse to defect from the leaf?"

"What? There must be a reasonable explanation…" I answered confidently but alarmed.

"Prove it to me… Prove to me that this is all some mistake. Kill Izumi Uchiha now! Show me the extent of your Loyalty. Show me that your loyalty does not lie elsewhere!"

 _What? No! Not like this, I still haven't planned the full extent of the genjutsu… The life that I want to show her… the one we could have shared if it wasn't for the inescapable violence this world festers._

"Tenzō! Bring _the girl_ out!" Danzo shouted as he slammed the butt of his cane into the floor like the gavel of a judge.

The man entered with the girl bound in his grasp. His apologetic eyes flashed my way not setting my heart at ease.

Tears began streaming from my eyes. A gut wrenching pain seized me even as I attempted to disguise it. _A ninja is loyal to the mission._

"Izumi…" I let out in a bated breath drawing nearer.

Her eyes had already been long stained red. They were puffy but still held compassion towards her lover - towards me.

"I'm so sorry... " I struggled.

"Itachi…" She whispered. "It's alright. I understand."

 _-But It's not alright… But there is nothing else that can be done. Out of time and out of options, I'm just a powerless man against the whims of destiny._

"My love, I will never forget you. I will love you 'till the end of eternity." I announced.

I scooped her into my arms causing her to jump slightly despite the critical eyes of Danzo still trained on me.

"You... are my one and only." I whispered through my emotion. Her smile breaking onto her face while lost in my eyes.

"Don't cry… It's alright." She said.

 _No its not!_

"I'll always love you my dear." She finished with another smile to set my heart at ease.

 _She doesn't deserve this… I don't want this..._

I lifted my arms up and bent my neck down, swooping in for a final kiss. Our lips approached and I clenched my eyes shut. Her soft mouth met my own, her tongue pushing into my mouth.

In soul crushing acceptance, I opened my eyes, morphing them into the mangekyo.

 _As little time as possible… for no less than 80 years… See the life I had planned for us… Experience the life you deserved. Farewell... my sweet angel._

 _ **Tsukuyomi!**_

The Genjutsu lasted only a picosecond. All the information transferred so quickly, atrophying and aging the woman nearly instantaneously.

Her body crumbled to dust in my grasp, falling and sifting to the ground. Her merciful smile etched into my brain and my heart beating in my chest. Vial emotions seeped from my psyche, fracturing it to the point I was sure was irreparable.

I wiped my face with my hand, staring at the tears I had shed. Proof of my humanity in the wake of such an unthinkable decision.

 _It was the Sandaime's fault! If he had acted sooner he could have prevented it. He wasn't blind, he just didn't do what was necessary. He'd rather other people make the hard decisions for him. IF I WERE HEALTHY I COULD HAVE TAKEN HIS SEAT… God...Do you really have a plan, or is all of this actually meaningless? ...and even if it is, I beg you, Please protect Sasuke..._

A chilling emptiness now filled me. It was as if there was a gaping hole where something important had once been.

"Excellent! It seems you are still loyal." Danzo announced.

" _Shut up_. This is all for Sasuke and the leaf. If i find that you ever disobey my wishes, I will come for your head Danzo."

"Hmm… So long as you are a protector of this village, I will keep my word. Sasuke will be safe, and never told of the great sacrifice that you had to make. Everyone will be told the story of the psychopath that murdered his family for recognition and power. The secret dies with you and our villages elders." Donzo said.

Danzo is an expert liar, but his heart is typically in the best interest of the village. The pain inside me gradually settled putting into perspective the numerous lives that I would need to end to keep my part of the deal.

"Well… It seems I'll need to prepare. _So long_ Donzo."

"Remember to take your predetermined escape route to be sure you can leave unhindered." He said.

 _Like I need your reminders, Just make sure you keep up your end or I'll be back._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina** _Alibi Clone_ **POV)**

As part of my clan training, I was required to occasionally oversee Hinata and tend to her needs. Today was one such day. I arrived for my shift 10 minutes early, both as a showing of respect to my duty as well as a way to establish a bond with her.

I stood at the overarching door of the bedroom in the alternate compound trying to grasp my composure before announcing myself.

After briefly inspecting my attire and smoothing down any wrinkles, I knocked on the door.

A muffled response came from behind the door that I couldn't decipher. I waited patiently at attention before a crash came from the room alerting me to something wrong.

"Byakugan!"

I twisted the doorknob simultaneously, flinging the door open to evaluate the situation.

I hopped inside before realizing what had happened. Hinata had knocked over her trunk of clothing in a rush to answer the door.

"Sorry. For a second I thought that maybe-" I started.

"-No it's my fault. I shouldn't have knocked over my luggage. It was rather clumsy of me. I'm sorry."

It was at this point that I realized something. I hadn't ever known Hinata to be particularly clumsy, but I have increasingly found myself in scenarios like this lately. _Was she intentionally doing it as a ploy for my attention?_

 _Hmm… Honestly it was hard to say, but I could probably do a little digging to find out._

"Your hair looks like you just took a nap. Would you like me to brush it for you?" I asked putting on my impression of a warm smile.

My eyes locked onto her beautiful locks. She was blessed with wonderful hair unlike myself. I had a deeply ingrained compulsion to brush it, touch it, and run my hands through it.

"Umm...I-If you would be so kind." She replied with all the shyness I had expected.

A small smile arrived on my face. _She is submitting to my requests._

I spotted a chair tucked away in the corner of the room. Quickly retrieving it, I placed it in an open space near the rooms center.

Hinata tentatively watched before she unzipped and dug into a pouch. I stealthily snuck behind her, looking over her shoulder to see what was inside.

The contents I discovered were a multitude of hairbrushes, combs, and hair accessories.

"This one!" Hinata exclaimed handing me a decorative hair brush of unmistakable quality.

My grin widened as I accepted the brush from the girl.

I ushered her to sit down with my hands, and despite growing faintly red in the cheeks and neck, she followed my directions.

The brush ran through her hair starting at her scalp then making my way down to her ends. With each stroke she leaned back into the brush letting me know she wanted it even harder.

With each stroke my ears detected a soft groan of pleasure. I discarded the stroking motion for that of a circular motion, digging into her scalp.

She started breathing deeper, still pressing her head into the brush increasing the pressure.

 _Wow… I've never seen Hinata act like this. She's loving it — and so am I._

I leaned in closer paying even more attention to the girl's responses so that I could drive her wild.

I pulled my mouth close to her neck while still weaving the brush through her locks. Slowly, I let out a deep warm breath on her neck causing her to embarrassingly quiver in pleasure.

"Aaahhh-uhha" she let out almost panting at this point.

I decided to discard the brush, now favoring to use my hands instead.

My nails scratched, digging into her scalp. My wrist turning each and every way to stimulate her in new ways.

After showering her with my attention, I pulled my hands out of her hair to even my own dejection, but it was nothing compared to Hinata's disappointment.

I leaned closer, whispering into her ear. "Earlier today you weren't genuine with me were you?"

"I-I… no…"

 _That's what I thought._

"What should you have told me?" I asked.

"... that… I wanted you… to stay with me?" She struggled.

As a small reward, I reached out, resting my hands on the back of her neck.

"—And what do you want now?" I asked wanting to hear her say it.

Instead of words, she childishly shook her head indicating that she wanted me to get back to work.

" _Nuh-ahh._ I want to hear it." I scolded

"Keep going! Please keep going!" She exclaimed.

I was getting slightly light headed from the visions in my mind, but I acknowledged her brave request with positive reinforcement.

" _Good_ girl." I whispered soothingly.

My nails dug back in and she pressed against it with increased vigor. My guess was she wanted to make up for lost time.

"I really like your hair… its _sooo_ pretty." I commented.

"Uhhhh-huh?" She let out questionably.

"I'm serious. You should consider growing it out."

She paused for a moment to think, then replied with: "You really think I should grow it out? I'm… not that confident in myself… and longer hair would make training even harder."

I wouldn't back down here. "I'll help you with your training if you want. What do you want Hinata? If you want long hair I could help you get to the point that you could be confident."

"-I'm hopeless, I don't-"

My fingers stopped moving despite me not meaning to stop.

"- **Don't say that in front of me again.** You are not hopeless, you are simply a different type of learner and Hiashi doesn't know how to train you correctly."

Hinata's body tensed at my outbreak. I had even startled myself with how forceful the beginning was.

"You… think so?" She asked still puzzled.

"Absolutely." I said without a hint of doubt.

I began running my fingers through her hair again, tracing my fingernails on her head in patterns.

I wished we could stay like this forever. Hinata was finally opening up to me. She was starting to come out of her shell she carefully constructed to protect herself.

A confident knock appeared at the door throwing water on our parade. The visitor didn't wait for a response, instead shoving the door open and stepping through.

"Sister! Let's go outside! I want to show you something I've been practicing." The visitor shouted, excitement evident in her tone.

"Mhmm." She replied with a hint of regret. "Okay Hinabi, just-"

"Your hair is a mess sister! Weren't you just getting it brushed? Is Mina not good at it? I can do it." She announced.

Hinata didn't seem ready for Hinabi's words as her head transitioned to pink and she stuttered a few times before I picked up her slack.

"I was scratching her head because it was itchy."

"Itchy?" Hinabi asked. "Father says an itchy head means dandruff, and that its gross."

"An itchy head could just as easily just be from dried sweat or a dry scalp." I responded.

Hinabi seemed to accept my explanation quickly sweeping it under the rug. "Okay, okay. Can we go outside now? Come on."

Hinata let out a giggle to which I shortly joined her. We both grabbed one of Hinabi's hands and headed out the door while Hinata used her free hand to play with her hair, likely trying to make it look presentable.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Let me know how I'm doing. When I see your comments telling me what I did either good or bad, It helps me motivate myself to write more often! Thanks everyone for making it this far in the story.

 **Reviewer Question: - How old were you when you had your first kiss?** _(My first kiss was at age 5 with a girl who was my friends sister, age 7 or 8 at the time.)_

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS and COMMENTS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-toadfist**_ **-** _ **"**_ _The MC's situation is quite strange. Yes this once Male 20 something year old was removed from his body and stuck in this younger body, and the chemical processes of her body and thought are still that of a child making self control difficult as well as a multitude of different influences such as the yearning of affection. Now that she is a 7 year old female of body, if we call her a pedophile for being attracted to children her age or slightly older in this case, than that would mean she would have to go after someone significantly older or no one at all. This is simply sending off the responsibility to someone else as now THEY will be the ones who is viewed as the pedophile because they are involved with a 7 year old. If Morality was to be upheld, it would mean she would instead need to wait and prolong any opportunities to bond to characters until she was an adult… which in this world is technically once she reaches Genin I suppose. IDK, at the end of the day it's a complicated problem that honestly no-one wins with. Sorry for rambling._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Lull Meister**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I admit that my writing and storytelling has had flaws such as Characters POV's resembling the MC's too much, poor plot progression, ect… However I believe my character interactions are one of my strongest suits, and I don't believe Sasuke's reactions and conclusions were out of character, just that his thought processes and narration were a bit too similar. As for the_ _ **'jumping the gun,'**_ _there is additional evidence that has not been shown in the story that should be added next chapter._ _ **"**_

 _ **-texiut**_ **-** _ **"**_ _glad to see your enjoying the story. MY biggest peeve with Naruto in general was its attempt to 'Kid Friendly' the violence and brutality of the ninja life, and i'll unfortunately agree that it kinda works through the lense of a character with Naruto's moral compass. But through other lenses we can see that Konoha is nearly as brutal as the other villages when they sense something wrong. Sasuke for his defection and crimes would have gotten NO clemonsey without Naruto's assistance. The 3rd Hokage had constantly been too soft to make important decisions causing worse for the village, so as he aged he became more shrewd, however when Naruto or young (in training) ninja are around, the 3rd seems to put on another persona._ _ **"**_

 _ **-writegood**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Yeah, When I thought about the prospect of doing a story of a 'villian' entering the Akatsuki , I started flipping out. I loved the idea, so much like Being-x's hand steers the story, my hand will perhaps steer the story towards the potential of the Akatsuki. Mina is being taken over by vengeance and it is blinding her to much. Sometimes as a broken human, you just want to see the world burn._ _ **"**_

 _ **-thepowerfullkira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _All I'm willing to confirm, is that Obito doesn't know. Also for the idea of adding a Devil May Cry weapon, i'm not entirely against it despite not knowing where I could possibly add it and how. Honestly it's unlikely, but who knows, maybe._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your continued support._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Casu4lDucK**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Oh me too. I can't wait to write Madara as he's one of my favorite characters in the series. His reaction will be priceless._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Re Fenrir**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Well… she's got the three eyes still in the teen's head, next chapter though. Also, I believe you are mistaken about a unique ability from the EMS. The Limbo clones, and Sasuke's teleportation ability were both abilities of the rinnegan that only the awakener can use. (Not passed on by transplant.) The Perfect susanoo is available to EMS users though, as well as increase of base power, unlimited use without deterioration, and a decrease in chakra cost._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Kaneki 17**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Glad you enjoyed… at least part of the story. Everything needs a bit of work since this is my first story i've written without a_ _ **very rigid outline**_ _and as such has lacked a bit._ _ **"**_

 _ **-006Sam**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Oh, Zetsu should likely be able to poke holes in Mina's story as she speculated but he refrained._ _As a reader, don't you get the feeling Zetsu knows something the rest of the characters and readers doesn't?_ _ **"**_


	29. Chapter 25

**Article 29 - Chapter 25 - The Fall of the Uchiha**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Just finished coaching my first season of soccer, had my surrogate father have a kidney removed due to cancer, and experienced the death of a close family friend. It's been an arduous and rough time but I can only do nothing for so long until compelled to return. Heres nearly 10k words, enjoy!_

 **This seems like as good as time as any, So I'm shifting the rating of this story to M for Mature.**

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

"An itchy head could just as easily just be from dried sweat or a dry scalp." I responded.

Hinabi seemed to accept my explanation quickly sweeping it under the rug. "Okay, okay. Can we go outside now? Come on."

Hinata let out a giggle to which I shortly joined her. We both grabbed one of Hinabi's hands and headed out the door while Hinata used her free hand to play with her hair, likely trying to make it presentable.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 25 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

 _Grrr… How could I have been so absent minded?_

I twisted the wire poking through the hinges of the kilns door with my pale fingers.

 _Obito left and I forgot to remind him of the importance of the sealing method to store the puppets… Is it unrealistic to hope he'll remember and solve my problem for me?_

My question sparked a hot animosity within myself. _It was such a stupid question, why had I even asked?_

Have I ever been the type to sit by and depend on others to get things done? The question after contemplation could only be considered rhetorical.

 _My shaky reign over my emotions only seemed to get worse despite being ever closer towards my goal… Why? Logically, I should feel more at ease -Yes?_

My logic seemed flawless despite the burning anxiety still bombarding me. The glaring contrast between theoretics and reality on full display.

 _I hadn't grown a heart overnight have I? Do I feel like this because I don't want to kill the captives? Perhaps my subconscious is trying to tell me something..._

The answer to my greatest question still eluded me.

 _Perhaps it was impossible to know for sure until arriving at the decisive moment when I take their lives. I haven't come this far to only make it this far… I'll finish what I've started._

A gust of air carrying the foul stench of the sewers circulated within the room to my dejection. An unsatisfied gurgle escaped from my core and my stomach seemed to drop uncomfortably.

 _This is a certain necessity! It is my responsibility to struggle and persevere! Who else but me could truly put up resistance against the damnedable Being-X. If the law of equivalent exchange is even remotely real it will take a demon to end a demon. I don't fear being tainted along the way if it is my responsibility to take that role._

Reaffirming my enemy at this point had become second nature to me.

 _Understanding your enemy is necessary to draw an effective plan of attack. What weaknesses does 'it' have?_

I took some time to rack my brain for all relevant memories of Being-X.

 _...Undeniably it's hubris. It must imagine itself as quite something because it never seemed to confront the possibility of failure or defeat. So… either he knows what I'm up to and he still doesn't view me as a legitimate threat yet…_

An icy chill ran along my spine causing me to twitch in my seat sending a metallic screech into the air.

 _-Or Being-X is not omnipotent. It doesn't have full knowledge or control, which is only supported by the fact it actually believes it will eventually convert me to some type of disciple for him. If Being-X can't read my mind without possession and instead has only been reacting to my actions… hmm... yes, this conclusion seems likely drawing from my personal experiences._

 _There were several options for it to interfere anywhere… At least under the assumption that it had full omnipotence, however has currently only ever interfered after something I've done. Thanks for the 20/20 hindsight asshole._

A beautiful radiant light peaked from over the metaphorical dark horizon. My lips pursed chaotically revealing a demented smile.

"Perhaps… A path to victory." I exclaimed.

Elation filled me being accompanied by a fleeting hope.

I took several steps back to inspect my handy-work.

The kiln was now fully completed and no glaring failures jumped out at me. It would seem there wasn't any problems following the design from Sasori's notes to a tee.

I toweled off the sweat caking my skin, but couldn't manage to feel clean. Unsatisfied, I wiped myself down again and again.

I felt impure and disgusting. My hair clumped in the back sticking to my neck in the sweltering heat, and it would only become hotter.

I loaded timbers stacked along the east wall until half of the stock was inside the kiln.

Pangs of emptiness reminded me of what was left to do after admiring the finished kiln.

All the prep work was now finished. Any excuses I could use to rationalize postponing the executions were gone.

Pushing the clasp apart with my fingers, my watch unlatched. I glanced down discovering it was much later than I had expected before jamming it back into a lab coat pocket.

 _People might be surprised to know how many useful items I managed to salvage from the underground laboratories and storage spaces. If their feeble minds could only comprehend the game they and everyone were playing, if they knew that all of the injustice they had ever experienced was actually thanks to the pathetic excuse of a deity, they would understand that nothing matters—_

"— **Which is why! I will cut you where it hurts most! What will** _ **YOU**_ **do when I attack your pride?"**

 _ **Pride-ideee**_ echoed through the room.

I found myself breathing harder due to my outbreak.

 _If anyone heard me they'd deduce I was losing my mind, however unlike before, I'm finally understanding my place in everything. Yes- I would make the 'god' bleed even if it were meaningless. Perhaps I can revel in the bliss of humbling a divine entity._

"...Approximately 2 hours till all the sedatives would be used… not to mention people can build a tolerance to it… In all reality, either of them could wake any moment."

Coming to terms with the observable reality that surrounds me was what I expected to be the hard part, however, realizing that it was my own choices which caused me to arrive here was disturbing.

The whole mess reminded me of a simple phrase Ayasha would use to scold me… the woman was so much wiser than I gave her credit for.

"Honey, If you hold your face like that long enough it will get stuck like that forever!"

 _My decisions to build and maintain a mask are the same decisions that have warped my personality… or perhaps… I had always been like this… I guess it doesn't matter. The monster had always been the enemy, but I must now hold my greatest enemy dearer than any friend_.

I paused having walked past a puddle showing my reflection. I squatted and stuck a finger in and out of the puddle breaking surface tension causing ripples to form.

"My name is Mina Hyuga. You must be the Monster. I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time together so please take care of me." I said with a smirk.

An exhausted yawn escaped my mouth with little warning. The fog that blanketed my consciousness weighed on my mind.

"The deadline is now, I can't procrastinate any longer…" I said while stopping and laying my palm on the shoddy wooden door before me.

The rusted iron hinges were an eye catching brown-orange in contrast to the gray and moss green surroundings.

I never understood how moss could grow in the absence of sunlight. To be honest, I didn't care enough to research it before and probably never will, another fleeting thought that will be pushed back to focus on matters of _actual_ importance.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

My energy levels felt abysmally low, and they had every right to be with how hard I've been pushing myself. My eyelids feel weighted down requiring my persistent discipline to hold them steady. I felt like shit and certainly looked the part.

A deeply ingrained compulsion forced me to reach for my neck, towards the pendant I could feel swinging through my shirt, my most treasured possession.

"I'm… I'm sorry… Ayasha." I whimpered dabbing at the corner of an eye. It was dry, vacant of the emotional proof of my defeat. It was a step forward.

I can only be sure to always keep moving. Consistent baby steps inevitably will lead to giant strides.

Shifting my weight forward, I leaned over the unconscious Leon Uchiha. His naturally brown locks clashed with the blond highlights jutting through.

This wouldn't be my first kill, I have done this before… but this time it feels more significant.

I gripped the surgical blade in my grasp harder. My free hand reached out and found its way to the teens throat. A slow yet steady pulse beat into my open palm.

 _This rhythm… is his life. When it ends… so does he._

His face was so relaxed. "To get what I want… To…" I started.

 _NO! Nothing excuses this… Don't pretend to have noble intentions, but infinite evil is reciprocated by infinite justice, and Infinite justice knows no morals._

" **I… am Justice!"** I shouted.

My conviction solidified. My hand slid up forcing the chin to raise to further expose the neck. Without much strength, I pulled the blade slitting the skin, and inserted tubing into the newfound hole sloppily.

The wound spurt excess blood in the same familiar rhythm. At times, so much came out the tube couldn't fit it all. Blood pooled on the neck as well as trickling downward towards the operation table.

Quickly I grabbed pieces of gauze, dabbing at the spreading mess. After each chunk was saturated, I disposed of it into a waste bin near my feet.

The job wasn't anywhere near done, but I bought myself some time before I'd need to tend to this body again so I could work on Neeko next. The absence of his right eye unsettled me, So I made an eyepatch out of gauze to prevent it from distracting me.

It would be so awesome to close my eyes for a fleeting moment. Sadly, A momentary reprieve was an impossibility. Any relaxation and I might lose my will.

 _So tired… I just need to finish this and I'll be free to sleep all I want._

I blinked repeatedly, hoping the action would chase away the feeling I would nod off into unconsciousness at any moment.

Groggily I slashed the throat. Following the order of operations and getting it done was the only way I was going to get any rest.

I pushed myself to go faster. I wanted to move as fast as I could without making mistakes. I only wanted my puppet completed.

It wasn't ideal, but I would need to store the puppets inside a typical storage seal until I could get Obito's assistance.

A leg started trembling uncontrollably and I had to shift my weight back to the left.

I rushed around the room, hanging both bodies upside down from their ankles to ease the draining of their blood.

I began whisking the chemical solution needed to petrify the flesh. If the solution was not homogenous the end result would be unacceptable.

 _My puppet needs to be perfect. There is no room for mistakes…_

Leaning forward, I edged onto my toes staring down into the manuscript reigning in my focus.

 _Just a bit longer..._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The chill night air caused goosebumps to appear on my arms and legs. Even while sweating and panting I was shivering.

The _ **CAWWWW**_ of a crow rang out from my surroundings.

I was lost. I couldn't remember the way back…

I smacked my forehead hoping the ache and pain inside would dial back by a few notches.

My head burned so badly I couldn't bring myself to use the Byakugan.

A running foot sunk deep into a hole tripping me, however I caught and steadied myself on a tree before continuing on.

 _ **CAWWWW**_

A pit formed in my stomach. I am out of my element. I only cared about making it back to the alternate compound. I craved the safety of my clan. I needed my mission to conclude. I had to replace my clone before I was discovered.

 _What if… What if Itachi is nearby?_

Dead leaves crunched underfoot with each step. An eerie fog was forming only adding to the difficulty of navigation.

 _Normally my memory is razor sharp… but trying to recall the route back seemed impossible. I can't afford to even think of Itachi right now._

My mind burned. My eyes were weak and dry.

 _None of this is familiar…_

"Mina?" A voice sounded beside me.

I jerked my vision back and forth, spinning in a circle trying to find the perpetrator.

Dirt, trees, and shadows were all that entered my vision.

The light from the moon was fairly substantial despite the thickening fog.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" I commanded.

I was on my toes, ready for something. As soon as they appear I'll kill them… even if it's Zetsu. It would be his fault for sneaking up on me.

I clutched the storage seal in my hand from within the safety of my pocket. _I will protect this seal with my life._

 **CAWWWW!**

Despite the obnoxious crow and the whistle of wind through the trees, the environment fell silent.

Fed up, I decided it was worth it to try.

"Byakugan!"

Pain flared behind my eyes. My body fell hard to my knees impacting the earth, halfway landing on a protruding root from the ground. The numbing uncomfort of my knees were nothing compared to the anguish from my eyes.

Leaves rustled and I caught a blurry moving figure approaching me quickly.

" **AAAAAAHHGH!"**

Bone stretched towards the figure plunging into the flesh and skewering them. Quickly I retracted the bone and repeatedly stabbed back into it.

I gored the enemy until I was sure they were dead. Stabbing and slashing until the tinge of fear I was experiencing retreated.

To my surprise, I discovered my target I gored so successfully was nothing more than a deer.

Chunks of flesh was ripped from the bone, flung to the ground with splats of crimson painting the dim moonlit environment.

"A Nara deer? What, did they substitute?!" I exclaimed.

 _Something was overcoming me… A primal instinct._

An unrecognizable blotch of white was oozing chakra so instinctively I ran towards it.

My vision nostalgically distorted, alerting me to the regression of my dojutsu back into its basic form.

I was in no shape to face an opponent, but I was in an even worse situation if I tried to run. I didn't even know where I was.

 **CAAAAAWWW!**

" **Bird — IM GOING TO SLIT YOUR THROAT!"** I screamed.

My shout echoed through the trees. A branch shook and flapping wings signaled it's retreat gradually fading out over distance.

" **Come out, Come out, Wherever you are!"**

The soothing sense of control washed over me.

I was ready to rip my stalker to shreds.

"Mina…" I heard.

My violent ecstasy peaked as I spun and pushed bone spikes from me in every direction I could, but didn't feel contact with anything.

 _My eyes must be lying to me! What the fuck is this?!_

I stared at the form of Leon Uchiha impaled with my bone, but as I wiggled, I took note of his lack of materialism.

" **GENJUTSU? WHEN?!"** I bellowed.

My blood ran cold. My deep fatigue built over the past few days was washed away with Adrenalin.

My hand squeezed at the pendent beneath my shirt.

" **HAHAHAHA! One of us will die! I wonder who it will be!"**

The illusion of the teen vanished without a trace.

After shouting i went mute. My heavy breaths began to quiet. I was ready for anything. This could be my last stand, but if I had anything to say about it it would be only a step in my journey.

Seconds past, then minutes. All was still and silent.

I couldn't stand it! I didn't want to wait, I wanted nothing more than to rip _whoever_ apart so I could return, but still nothing showed itself.

I found myself marginally relaxing, hoping that fainting weakness would compel the enemy to strike, but the strike never came.

It occurred to me that even with the brief activation of the Byakugan I never saw anyone.

 _Did I imagine the deer was a person? A Hallucination?! Or… But what about the genjutsu?!_

I didn't have the faintest clue to what was going on.

 _Am I having a psychotic break? Was there or was there not a genjutsu?_

Either way, now I was quite responsive; my brain catching it's second wind kicking into gear.

After 15 minutes of wandering around without coming to any reasonable conclusion, I found myself back on track towards the alternate compound.

Each step I took brought me closer to a comfortable feather stuffed mattress. I craved the soft touch of silky sheets against my skin.

The urgency to arrive at the bed only increased after fantasizing about it.

I walked, walked, and walked some more. The night had now shifted to late night or early morning, at this point I couldn't tell and checking wouldn't do any good. I didn't need to know the time, I only needed a pillow to lay my head.

My eyes felt crusted but I was nearly at the finish line. The great Hozu Manor broke over the forests' canopy to my excitement.

I scaled the wall with my eyes set on the top. As I neared the top, soft whispers of on duty guards from the other side carried.

 _No doubt Hiashi's men._

I pulled myself carefully onto the ledge focusing on the window.

I jammed a hand into my satchel retrieving several pebbles.

I grasp a stone tightly in my hand, winding my arm back. The stone launched in an arc, but I had barely missed the open window. The stone ricocheted off the wall with a _**SNAP**_ falling to the dim depths.

I quickly armed myself with a new stone, launching it. The throw wasn't as pretty, but it got the job done, the rock went through the open window making it inside.

" **WHO GOES THERE?"** I heard a guard shout below the wall.

 _I would need to do it regardless, but it would be easier if I could establish vision to swap with my clone…_

" _ **Oii!"**_ Another guard shouted.

 _It would have to be now._ I thought while bringing my hands together.

The identifiable white hair atop a child's head peeked out of the window just in time.

" _[Substitution],_ — _[Release]_." I whispered.

The clones conscious merged with my own, and before I could be discovered I reached beneath my bed for the bucket with water, a rag, and a towel.

I had expected to feel slightly better with the chakra from the clone having returned to me, however, instead it seems the fatigue the clone was experiencing was also transferred.

I wiped myself down quickly with the cool damp rag, the water on my skin was comforting despite me shivering. I toweled off, drying myself before pushing all the shit under the bed haphazardly with a foot. I contently leapt onto the bed face first in exhausted excitement.

My face impacted with the glorious pillow to my unbridled delight. My pillow smelled of my citrus conditioner which was oddly soothing.

A deep smile found it's way on my face despite the hell the last few days have been.

"I did it… I really…" before finishing my sentence I let out a tired yawn. "Really… did it."

I closed my eyes and quickly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Muffled noises sounded amongst unconscious thought. Quaking vibrations shook through my being startling me, but I was so tired. _I could always check on… that later._

"Whey cup! Whey cup?"

 _Hmm?_

The voice was memorable but his name was lost to me. I only knew he was a teammate's father from my high school. He was such a kind hearted person, that is, as long as you stayed away from his jerky pantry.

"Whey cup?"

"Wake cup? Is that like that pre-workout stuff that gets you jazzed up?" I asked.

The father raised his hands in confusion while shaking his head no. Astounded he asked: "What? A _Wake_ cup?"

Aaron was now fully attentive with the widest grin. The two shot glances at each other holding back laughter. Aaron himself was quite the showman, So I had a hard time imagining anything less of his father.

"No dumbass, this isn't some pre-workout, it's whey protein. Starts off as milk till they extract everything else but the protein pretty much. Makes getting your protein after a workout or in a pinch easy, sadly mixing it with water tastes like shit, but you'll learn it's easier to live with whey protein than trying to find normal food right after every workout." The father said.

"That's pretty much it. You'll get used to it around here especially if you're shooting for a starting position. You'll need _anything_ to get you bigger, stronger, and faster than the competition, 'cuz your height ain't cutting it."

"Oh… Makes sense. I guess I'll try one." I said.

"Okay, but try your first one with milk, you can try with water later." Aaron condescended.

 _I understood that milk was the equivalent of cutting corners toward my ideal goal, and that taking it in water would make it taste horrible, but impressions mean everything, and I could serve to learn a lot from Aaron and his family, I just need to get them to like me._

I straightened my posture and put on my most convincing grin. "Nope—I want my whey cup in water."

"Oh yeah? A rip the band-aid off kind-of-guy? I like _eee_. Respectable—You know?" Arron's dad said.

I smiled and nodded his way. "Yeah, thank you."

It was working. The man was warming up to me, and unlike Jeremy who got into his beef jerky cabinet and ate so much the man refused to ever invite him back, I'll respect his desires for our mutual benefit.

 _In the end, there are only two types of people, mutualists and parasites. Because after all, who wants to have to feed other peoples' parasitic natures? We are supposed to bring up our surroundings, so finding mutualists who could at least pay it forward only made logical sense._

"Wake Up!"

The jarring phrase broke my suspension of belief.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Tokuma POV)**

"Mina I need you to listen to me! Hello?! Anything?"

She continued laying unresponsive, seemingly enjoying her dream despite my countless attempts to raise her from her slumber.

 _Sure, it was 3:50 AM, but still she's never been this heavy of a sleeper…_

My arm grabbed a hold of an ankle shaking it to wake her.

 _Man, she looks out cold, but emergency orders are to return to Konohagakure within the hour, so it's not like there's any real choice in the matter._

I sat on the wrinkled bedspread for a moment. Every time I see Mina, it inevitably reminds me of nightly conversations with Ayasha. She's Ayasha's final momento left behind and maybe I accidentally tried to rob that from her too quickly.

 _Geeze, I don't know how to be a dad and she doesn't pretend she thinks I do either. Mina's sass reminds me a lot of 'her' though, at least a younger 'her'._

Inside my stomach, I felt a yearning and a nothingness. _The duality between appreciating what 'we' had, and longing for what 'we' could have had… is a constant struggle everyday._

"—Even though she doesn't look anything like you… She reminds me of you so much Ayasha . I'll make sure nothing happens to our daughter." I said while patting Mina's legs tenderly.

I made sure to consciously smile and take a deep breath.

"Rise and Shine" I yelled. "It's Morning! Wake up—Wake up!"

She was finally joining us in the realm of the living, opening her eyes with attitude.

"MMMMMMHHH!" She hummed.

"Honey, use your words."

She tossed back over to her side and nuzzled her head into the pillow.

This was highly unusual. Not for normal people mind you, but for her it certainly was. She always made it easy to forget she's still just a little girl.

A thought occurred to me and my smile widened. Quickly I stepped up and threw together my daughters possessions.

Picking up a bag, curiosity overcame me, and despite wanting to respect her privacy I caved to depravity. I opened it peering inside. With a hand, I pushed spare clothing and empty food wrappers to the side when I saw something odd.

A silver ornamental pocket-watch I wasn't familiar with and had never seen before. Along the entire edge of the watch was an engraved serpent eating its tail.

"An Ouroboros inspired watch, where did she get this? She didn't steal it did she?"

A snore from beside me forced me to drop the watch back into the bag looking back to Mina for confirmation.

 _Still asleep, phew._

The dirt visibly smeared into the silk sheets as well as embedded under her fingernails clued me in to what was really going on.

Mina was so brutally efficient that it stifled her creativity. She seems to only do something if she can get something out of it. Even as a small girl she never was interested in decorating, art, or material possessions really. Her tunnel visioned straightforwardness was if nothing else predictable.

 _Nah, I even said it, she's not interested in material things, so why would she steal?_

I bent down on a knee to reach under the bed, tapping something with a finger before pulling it out. I sensed the smell of body odor as I pulled a wet towel out from underneath the bed. Stained brown and green, caked with mud and vegetation.

"Must have been hard at work training again… She outworks grown men…" I said.

I pulled my face lower towards the ground, peeking under the frame.

I spied a bucket as well, which I pulled out and set aside.

A sense of pride filled me with joy with the knowledge that she was so extraordinary, but I still wished she could realize that there is more to life than that.

"Keep dreaming princess, Your daddy's got this one."

I strapped both of our luggage to my back, and scooped the young lady into my arms.

While pocketing a loose pen, my hand bumped into my flask.

My eyes fell on Mina's face to be sure she wasn't awake. Her eyes closed peacefully and her chest slowly heaving.

I reached for the flask, retrieving it stealthily. The cap twist off as easily as always.

 _She would never approve… Even my daughter belittles me for being too weak to cope. She deserves a better father than me._

Tilting my head back, I took a long indulgent swig, The liquor went down warm. After gulping a few mouthfuls, I sputtered and coughed lightly making sure to pocket the flask as soon as possible.

Mina was still fast asleep with no signs of waking.

 _I'm such a coward, is all I can do retreat?_

I let out a defeated sigh before shifting her weight around more comfortably in my arms. After walking out of the room, I began making my way back to the courtyard where we would soon embark.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

The afternoon sun bled through the gap between the window curtains. A shaking branch outside from the wind created an endless cycle of shadows and light. The shifting light show had caught my barely conscious attention.

I squeezed my eyes shut again, flipping over in the bed.

Alert of something off, I jolted to attention and surveyed my surroundings.

I found myself back in my own room within the Hyuga compound, back in the village.

 _Did I black out? How did I get here?_

I wasn't sure how exactly I'd gotten here, but I was here now, so I'll have to make the best of it.

A realization knocked my breath out of me as I leapt to my feet. I desperately scavenged around the room.

"No, NO, NO! ~please!"

I opened and slammed my closet door.

My breathing hastened as I tore the room apart.

I dropped to a knee thrusting a hand underneath the bed and the familiar cloth satchel strap wrapped around my sliding hand.

My heart settled marginally as I pulled it out from beneath my bed.

I frantically dumped its contents onto the floor with reckless abandon.

After the satchel was emptied, I pressed a fingertip around the brimming of the bag, pinching and pulling the thread out.

A hole revealed itself and I jammed two fingers inside. The distinct feeling of parchment and the unmistakable shape of a ring set my heart at ease. My breathing regulated as I relaxed.

 _It's still here… thank god._

While realizing I just inadvertently acknowledged Being-X, it didn't dampen my mood much. After all, I had finally achieved my goal.

I flopped back onto my mattress, favoring to stare at the mesmerizing rotating ceiling fan.

 _I did it… A Mangekyo Sharingan Puppet. Finally I have a way to combat unfairness. A way to survive if shit ever truly hits the fan. A last lifeline. A final safety net._

A wholehearted smile spread across my face and my spirit soared to unexplored heights.

 _It all paid off, everything. I was right all along._

Finding myself in the uncommon position of no immediate goal to strive for, I continued laying atop the bed.

 _I don't have any real reason to do anything right now. I could simply enjoy the day._

I thought that, but there was nothing I wanted to do besides lay right here and let a nice breeze sooth over me. A content sigh found its way out of my smiling lips.

My stomach rumbled reminding me of my lack of nourishment. I briefly thought of heading downstairs to prepare food, but instead I did nothing, lying sprawled out comfortably.

I glanced over to the clock several times, watching the time fly by as I accomplished nothing.

3:03pm — 4:21pm — 5:36pm

 _When would it be enough, when would I finally pull myself up?_ _At least I need to find food. I can't just lay here all day._

I should do something, but it was still difficult for me. I was drowzee, sore, and aimless. But despite those afflictions, I forced myself downstairs. I scavenged through the pantry so that I wouldn't have to make my way to the clans kitchen.

 _Here's adzuki beans, Eww… Shiitake mushrooms —no. Soba noodles, Hmm… But I don't want to cook, not to mention we don't have any meat to add._

I meandered over to the kitchen, dragging a chair over and placing it inside of the open pantry.

Crawling up, I rested a hand on a shelf for balance, and peered at the contents of the top shelf.

The grand majority of the contents of the top shelf were various liquor and sake bottles lined up neatly.

"No matter how organized and neat you make your vice, it's still a dependency." I said before clicking my tongue of anger.

To the very edge of the shelf laid a box, a box that I recognized.

I stretched my arm pushing myself onto my 'tippy' toes and stuck my hand into the box grabbing ahold of several plastic wrappers.

 _Nutritional bars —Perfect. An easy answer that was both quick and balanced._

A quick _**thump**_ like something tipping over and landing on the ground in a different room caught my attention.

I wandered around the house trying to pinpoint what had fallen or made the noise.

Three solid _**knocks**_ ' informed me of my inaccurate first assessment.

I hurried down the hallway past the families cubbies arriving at the door.

Twisting the doorknob, I opened the door.

Neji was standing outside, his arrival was unexpected but not unwanted.

"Hey, what's up?"

"—Has anyone told you yet?" He asked.

"Hmm? What?"

Neji stared at me incredulously before finally continuing. "It's —The whole clan, all the Uchiha's are dead."

Genuine surprise overcame me.

Cold sweat seeped from my pores.

"All? _**Every**_ **last** _ **one**_ **of them!?** " Surprise evident in my voice.

 _It couldn't be, He must have phrased it wrong. Sasuke lives._

Neji didn't blink, or falter, or look away. Instead he met my gaze with a solemn determination.

"That's what everyone is saying at least."

 _What have I done? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_

"...Sasuke."

I didn't understand why, but I thought I've become used to losing people. So if I was used to it, why was I over reacting?

 _Am I upset that I lost him as a potential ally? Or the fact he would have made a great shadow puppet I could control? Maybe it was that he was an important and central figure to a story I enjoyed as a kid? Or… Could it be genuine attachment._

"—I'll meet up with you later!" I shouted over my shoulder running ahead.

The instantaneous footsteps behind me informed me he wasn't done yet.

"Wha—" I started.

"—I'm coming too."

Stopping in my tracks, I turned around facing the Hyuga prodigy.

"You don't even know what I'm doing? Do you?"

His eyes went wild before gradually settling.

"Yes. You're going to do something stupid." He replied seriously.

My cheeks felt hot being rebuked by a child, but he probably wasn't too far off base there.

"It's alright. I'm just—" I tried again.

"—I'm coming." He announced adamantly. The fiery passion in his eyes told me I wasn't negotiating my way out of this.

I turned back on course sprinting up the narrow cobblestone pathway.

"Suit yourself."

We headed out the front compound gate, underneath the arches, and onto the road.

 _He couldn't have died. He's just hiding in his compound or in hospitalization… or perhaps Itachi found Jade Uchiha's residence and decided to take Sasuke with him? Would he really do that?!_

I jumped into the air, eventually falling onto the roof of a building in the industrial zone. Hopping from roof to roof I focused only on my destination.

The sheet metal beneath my landing feet sunk in a bit, however it was out of mind within seconds.

Quickly I found myself at the entrance of the Uchiha compound. Hyuga clansmen were stationed outside and the entrance was cordoned off with yellow caution tape.

"We're not going to be able to get in there. The Hyuga are responsible for taking over the police force now, but only active shinobi and recruits are allowed inside." Neji announced from behind me.

Reason and logic, my previous cornerstones of life now stood in firm opposition to me.

"Is there anyway I can get inside?"

One of the two guards looked down on me recognizing me.

"Uhh… Your not on the Police Taskforce so I'm afraid not." He said.

I turned to the female guard hoping she would be of more help. "Can I join this taskforce? How can I join?"

The female Shinobi was visibly disturbed by my questions, favoring to turn away from me gripping her wrist.

"Kid, you don't want to go in there. I don't even want to go in, it's not pretty."

 _I can't give up. He's still alive._

"Please? There has to be someway?" I pleaded.

"We should go…" Neji whispered to me, tugging lightly on my sleeve.

"Wait, just let me—"

"—Your making a scene. Think, these underlings can't get you what you want. Your going to have to appeal to someone higher." He said.

 _Ofcourse! Why hadn't I thought about that. Besides the hospital isn't too far away. I could check and see if Sasuke is in the patient logs. If he's not there I could always ask Hiashi-sama to appoint me to the taskforce or just sneak into the compound later._

The sweet sensation of logic and reason on my side once again gave me renewed hope.

"Okay, next stop —the hospital." I announced.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

We arrived inside the hospital lobby. I used the bottom of my shirt to wipe my forehead with no regard if anyone could see beneath it.

Stepping up to the counter, I waved at the receptionist who greeted me with a casual smile.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

Resting my palm on the counter, I looked up at the brunette woman without hesitation. "I'm here to visit Sasuke Uchiha." I said confidently.

Her face twisted after hearing _Uchiha_ , the smile receding. She looked down at something at her desk before answering with: "I'm sorry, I don't think I can help you."

"Can you tell me if he's here at least?" I interjected. "Please, he's a close friend and I don't even know if he's alive."

I sent her a pleading look, opening my eyes wider, and bringing my arms closer to my body in front of me.

 _Yes… Feint helplessness._

The woman frowned, turning to each side of her suspiciously like she was scanning the area. She turned back to me and waved me in to lean closer to her.

"Shh… I could get in trouble for telling you so you didn't hear this from me, but Sasuke Uchiha is currently in the emergency ward. Sorry, but I don't know about his condition other than he is alive."

 _I knew it! Oh thank G—G-Great._

"Thank you! I appreciate it very much." I said bowing to the receptionist before facing Neji again.

The receptionist sighed, a smile returning to her face. "No problem. Don't mention it cutie." She said from behind me.

Looking back, I nodded to her brandishing my own cosmetic smile.

 _He's alive._

I lead Neji to the corner of the room and relayed the information that was given to me. The odd mix of clashing relief and indifferent vibes he gave off was jarring.

"So what's the plan now?" He asked after a pause.

"No idea… I guess I'll just study at the medical library for a bit while I'm already here."

He nodded slightly but his sharp eyes still stared into me, like he was looking for an alternative motivation. His eyes unsettled me.

 _What is going on in his head? What is he thinking? Does he suspect me of something?_

"...Very well, but remember to get some rest. Hiashi-sama informed me that we have morning practice tomorrow."

"Thanks for your concern, but I actually rested a fair amount already." I replied.

A smirk appeared on his face. "Ah, No doubt, I mean you slept the whole way back to the village in Tokuma-san's arms."

 _Oh… so that's how I got back to the village._

I playfully reached out and shoved him. I could feel my face getting hot again and I wanted to avoid talking about the subject any further.

"Tell anyone, especially in our class and I'll castrate you."

Bewilderment arrived and faded in moments before he replied holding a serious expression: "... _Caste-rate_? Knowing you that can't be good."

Grinning wildly I made scissor impressions with my hands opening and closing them maliciously at him.

"Well… Farewell. Don't do anything stupid."

Before letting him get too far away I shouted after him. "Thanks for your vote of confidence Senpai."

He waved a hand effortlessly over his shoulder, not even bothering to look back.

I made my way to the library's main entrance as opposed to the back entrance which I first snuck into.

I didn't have my pass on me but the receptionist could still look it up and wouldn't pester me much because of the prestige of my clan.

My initial deduction turned out to be spot on, the receptionist let me inside without any trouble having recognized me from my many visits.

"Let me know if you need help finding anything." The elder spectacled man said.

"That shouldn't be necessary."

 _Okay, let's just browse around for a moment to make sure the coast is clear before I slip into the Archives room._

Slinking from one bookshelf to the next, I pulled a few publications that seemed interesting enough without spending much effort.

 _Even if I end up returning these without reading them that would be fine._

To my annoyance, the library was a hotspot today for whatever reason.

Several Chunin, identifiable by their jackets, were re-cataloging part of the library's collection. At the same time, medic nin trainee's apparently had an exam before the weeks end according to one of the girls I bumped into.

I took a seat at a clear desk away from the crowd and bided my time with my books.

Little by little, hour by hour, the traffic inside the library died down until I was nearly the only one left.

 _Good enough. Now that my objective was complete, I wouldn't need Orochimaru's notes anymore so I could finally dispose of them._

It was unreal. Ever since I placed them here I hadn't even got to use them once. They were useful as backups, and since my copies disappeared from the sewers they certainly could have come in handy, but now they would be more of a liability.

 _Oh well, all of this will soon be behind me._

I slipped into the Archives quickly making my way to the correct filing cabinet.

Pulling it open, I speedily ran my fingers down the dividers stopping at _B107-E918_.

" _Thesis: The Similarity_ , _Thesis: The Similarity_ , _Thesis: The Similarity_..." I mumbled.

I scrolled through the documents and folders finally reaching the end without noticing the title I was looking for.

 _Must have stuck together or just missed it._

My fingers pulled apart each file starting from the beginning again. I made a conscious effort to slow my pace, looking at each folder and document individually.

 _Nope… Nope… No…_

I had already made my way back through what looked like half of _B107-E918_ 's Archives.

I slowed my pace even more, wanting more than anything to find the file this time through so I could leave.

 _Nuh-uh… No… Nada…_

There were only so many files left, it was difficult to keep doubt from entering my mind. I found my heart beating faster and my palms dampening.

 _No...NO...NOO_

The final folder resting in my hand. " _Research Paper: Dairy's estrogen and its effect on muscle progression."_

My heart was racing inside my chest, beating like a snare drum played by a coked out musician.

 _I must have missed it. It's got to be here._

The third check however still showed zero results. The folder was gone, the documents were gone.

 _This is bad. I need to leave._

I turned to leave, but my gut wrenched stopping me in my tracks.

 _What if I'm being watched… right now… what would this look like?_

Adrenalin flushed through my system and my fight or flight response engaged.

 _I have to be able to explain this if it ever comes up…_

I made up my mind. I'd need to play it off.

I stepped to the side and opened the next drawer over, barely glancing over the titles of each work, but in the back of my head I still hoped I'd run across it.

 _Yes, someone could have pulled it out and misfiled it… But if anyone asks what I was doing here what can I tell them? What would they believe?_

I racked my brain trying to come up with any feasible excuse, but I couldn't. As hard as I tried, nothing came to mind.

" _Thesis: Empirical Analysis of Chakra Conversion for Medical Ninjutsu. "_

This is right up my alley. Anyone could easily believe this is something I would read. I would believe it.

I snagged the file from the cabinet, closed the drawer, and exited the room.

I scooped the books I had set aside on the desk into my arms and made my way to the front entrance to the receptionist.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" The man asked.

"Mmhhmm." I hummed with a nod and a smile. "I also would like a copy of this Archive."

I reached my hand out holding the file to the elder. He took it with his twitching hands pushing his glasses back with a finger.

The man laid the file on a special desk behind him, opening it and counting the pages inside.

He grabbed several blank sheets from a stack laying them side by side the open Archive file.

He retrieved a black vial, popping the top, and pouring its contents onto the table into a groove.

He held his hands over the papers while they illuminated a green glow. The ink from the groove warped, shifted, and slithered onto the fresh sheets of paper into kanji before he pulled his hands back with another smile.

"Thank you so much. How much do I owe you for the copies?" I asked reaching into a pocket before realizing my fatal error.

 _I didn't have any money, how stupid can I get? Hello? Brain?_

"It's on the house. It's wonderful to see the young with a thirst for knowledge. Come back any time."

 _I lucked out, this would have looked so bad if I had to leave empty handed._

I bowed to the man in great respect. His humanitarianism was greatly appreciated. "Thank you."

The elder chuckled under his breath handing me my stack of papers in a brand new manila folder. "Come back now 'ya hear?"

"Of course." I replied cheekily before shoving all my research material under an arm and leaving.

As soon as I reached outdoors I couldn't hold it together any longer. I began panting and clenching my chest. My heart which had been racing all this time hadn't settled in the slightest.

 _Someone's found it… FUCK FUCK FUCK!_

I could hardly stop myself from throwing a tantrum. All I could do to hold myself back was grit my teeth and grind.

 _What am I going to do? Breathe —Breathe stupid._

For the moment, I took several deep breaths, feeling only slightly calmer.

 _Okay… They were all in Orochimaru's handwriting. Of course I knew there was a chance it would be found, and logically there shouldn't be any way to implicate me, so just calm down!_

"I'm fine. Everything is going to be okay - as long as I can get Obito to help me seal the puppets soon." I mumbled.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Hiruzen POV)**

"This is a great tragedy. How could you let it come to this?" I asked earnestly standing from my seat.

The room was dimly lit by a candle, the light flickering at the whim of the wind.

"ME? You were weak. You knew all along, Itachi came to you - I know it! You stood by and did nothing while I settled everything." My old friend clad in black robes with a half bandaged face announced.

"Settled everything? Do you hear yourself? Do you not see the huge problem we're left with?"

Donzo struck his cane into the floorboards demanding attention. "Compared to what would have happened, I consider these problems minor."

"You're right, this is my fault. I shouldn't have entrusted this to you. Donzo, I can no longer allow you to act on your own authority."

Donzo's one visible eye narrowed threateningly. "Had it been left to you we would be embroiled in civil war. I did this for the village. I am the roots, the foundation the village is supported by."

I pinched a glob of flesh on my forehead in my wrinkled fingers. "As of this moment, I relieve you of your duties as my 2nd in command. You may return to your quarters."

"There is… something else." Donzo said lowering his voice.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Before the massacre began, my team discovered that Jade Uchiha's residence was vacant with the telltale signs of violence. In my opinion, they either fled and staged the scene not wanting to participate in the coop, or a third party intervened."

"And I'm just being told of this now?" Hiruzen grumbled.

 _What is his aim?_

"I wanted to analyze the weapons used and gather more information before bringing it to your attention. By the time we discovered the scene, the massacre was inevitable, and the results were only recently finalized."

"-And what were these results?"

Donzo's lips curled slightly into a jaded grin as he responded: "Medical sciences combined in an unorthodox way. They combined tranquilizer and chakra toxin indicating the intention to avoid fatality. Does this remind you of anyone?"

My lungs seized forcing me to collapse back into my seat. With a fist I struck my chest coughing and letting out a shaky weeze.

"Hiruzen!" The man shouted in zealous concern.

"Yes… Orochimaru." I fought out.

 _The sharingan could very well be in his possession, if not then in someone else's._

The leaf's shadow stood straighter, approaching my seat, towering over me now in a newfound position of power.

"This is the second time your weakness has hurt the village only recently. You are the light of this village, and I am the darkness. Together we can maintain order, but separate we lose cohesion risking chaos."

"...You've given me much to think about. If that is all please return to your quarters while I make my decision." I said emptily.

A sinking feeling in my chest that was not my lungs made me feel hollow.

"Hmmph!" Donzo huffed exiting.

I leaned forward folding over holding my head with my hands.

 _He wasn't wrong… I am as much to blame in all of this. -What to do? -What to do?_

A tap from the roof forcing me to adopt a more befitting posture.

"Enter." I called out.

A ceiling tile shifted allowing my personal Anbu to drop in front of me onto a knee. The dog mask fitted to the operators head like a faceless man.

"Kakashi, please remove your mask." I ordered.

Within seconds, a hand shot to the mask ripping it off displaying a scar running down his face and the blood red pupil of the sharingan between the gash. His silver hair dancing in the breeze mimicking the flame of the candle.

"Yes Third-sama."

 _Many thoughts swam into my head. This overall proved nothing, but it did make me realize the necessity to keep an eye open. Orochimaru…_

"Kakashi Hatake, I'll be temporarily resigning you to the Konoha Police Force starting effective tomorrow."

Kakashi winced at my words causing a mellow chuckle to escape me.

"Sir, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but are you sure that is where my _talents_ are best suited?"

"I'm entrusting you with mentorship of a rising pupil." I said with a nod. "You should be familiar with her as you have encountered her on a _previous_ mission."

The doubt that hung over Kakashi like a storm cloud dissipated hearing my intentions.

"This is a task I can leave only to you. Do you understand?"

"This pupil... is it Mina Hyuga by chance sir?" he said, his eyes blazing.

"It is. I will inform her tomorrow. I received new knowledge today that only cements my decision."

"Third-sama, can I ask what it was?"

I folded my hands together interlocking my fingers and sighed an old mans sigh.

"It's probably nothing, but there is a chance the sharingan has fallen into a third parties hands."

"—And you think she is capable of—"

"—All I know is that it reeks of Orochimaru. Whether it was him, donzo, or anyone else, we need to keep our eyes peeled."

"Ofcourse."

"I'll brief you on the rest of the details tomorrow. This old man is tired and needs a nap." I said hoping to shift the mood of the room. "You are excused."

My trusted Anbu took his leave as I pulled open a desk drawer reaching into it for Trusty, my old friend. Fumbling around in the drawer for the pipe, I instead bumped my hand into a folder. Recognizing it, I pulled it out, my eye caught by the text.

" _Thesis: The similarity of agricultural and medical uses of nutrient replacement."_

"Mina Hyuga… What are you playing at?"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Let me know how I'm doing. When I see your comments telling me what I did either good or bad, It helps me motivate myself to write more often! Thanks everyone for making it this far in the story.

 **Reviewer Question: - Who is your favorite villain in fiction?** _(Mine would probably be either Sans from Undertale or Walter White from Breaking Bad.)_

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS and COMMENTS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Mina has not implanted a sharingan in herself. I don't believe she would consider this especially without Uchiha DNA as the Chakra strain would be far too high, look at Kakashi for example, and it would lock several of her powers away from her since the sharingan was matured outside of her possession aka she'd be stuck with EMS on at all times, even more of a strain than Kakashi's standard who in act 1 is debilitated by it as an elite jonin and former anbu captain, what would this do to Mina chakra pool?. Yeah, you envision Mina and Hinata entering a relationship? In a comment before I mentioned this as fluff, meaning the relationships likely doomed to fail or never start. However we'll see as I keep writing, who knows ;)_ _ **"**_

 _ **-Re Fenrir**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Her insanity is developing nicely, and as much as she doesn't want to, she's acknowledging the fact she can't be solely dependant on herself not to mention Hinata is everything Mina's not, making her want hinata all the more._ _ **"**_

 _ **-ShotoGun**_ **-** _ **"**_ _It would be neat I admit, but like I mentioned above in Irina's comment, too much chakra drain, then there's the fact obito left before she killed the Uchihas. But especially for the parallels it would have been really cool. Would have done it if I felt I could have made it work_ _ **"**_

 _ **-kingsoteng**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Eh, maybe? His chakra pools are prolly around Chunin levels, and his practical fighting prowess is getting there, however Chunin are less about pure power and more about being competent leaders, and he is simply too young and irresponsible at that point to be at chunin level, but certainly Genin level tho easy._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Drunkle Qrow**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Fantastic! Seems you much like our MC have decided to join the rebellion against Being-X._ _ **Hard may he fall."**_

 _ **-18sprar1**_ **-** _ **"**_ _It's a possibility I don't want to directly address with a yes or no answer. This is one open question I'd like to see evolve as the story continues._ _ **"**_

 _ **-writegood**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for all of your assistance, You have been a very positive influence on my writing and on the story, This chapter certainly wouldn't have shaped up as well as it did without your assistance beta reading.._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Maelaeran**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your comments, not sure if you continued reading, but your excitement brought a smile on my face more than once.._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Immortal ninjaaa**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for taking the time to go back and read the parts you skipped over. Glad to be able to see your reactions as you went from chapter to chapter. Hope to see your continued support._ _ **"**_

 _ **-raymondarnold663**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I love you for loving this story._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Erxen**_ **-** _ **"**_ _'_ Logic: reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity'- _While yes, determining that someone is or is not a god by whether or not they are inclined to assist mankind would not be logic, however there are multiple reasons as to why the character came to the conclusion, and a character's perspective is irrelevant to determining my authorial knowledge as the character is a lens skewing the perception of the story through. A fellow author/writer should know that :)_ _ **"**_

 _ **-vincent1875**_ **-** _ **"**_ _We as human beings are a mix between logic and emotion. Adamantly demanding that what they see is 'logical' when in reality is more skewed toward the emotional was the intent to show a flawed character._ _ **"**_

 _ **-InCK**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks. Hope to see your continued support._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Dispel**_ **-** _ **"**_ _No- THANK YOU for taking the effort to write your encouraging comment. I never want the reader to get too comfortable so expect and search for foreshadowed twists and feel free to speculate in the comments._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Aileron97**_ **-** _ **"**_ _You are correct about the fact that I did a poor job handling certain characters youth in entirety and in particular scenes. As for training underage, while it could be detrimental for the skeletal system, it is not detrimental to the muscle fibers which will increase the number of ribosomes in the cells aiding in strength and rebuilding muscle. These ribosomes are permanent and will last far after stopping training allowing you to much easily arrive back at your peak strength of you ever lose muscle mass. Also the Skeletal problems are negligible because of the Dead Bone Pulse._ _ **"**_

 _ **-iMayBeACatLover**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Glad to see your first review and hope you'll continue leaving more :D -Orochimaru will becoming a bigger and bigger presence in the future so I love that your so excited about the potential stories that could unfold. Stay tuned._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Aeonir**_ **-** _ **"**_ _You are absolutely correct, sometimes I handled characters poorly due to their age, but hopefully I learned something from my mistakes. This story is only a platform to grow from and become more competent. However, Dojutsu clan kids do have faster and more advanced brains do to the extra information their brain is required to process, and in an environment that basically whips the childishness out of them even if its little by little._

 _\- As for the T.I. arc when she was tortured, the Sandaime already had Orochimaru's research papers that was linked to Mina. Even as an author I'm unsure if Ibiki was let in on this tidbit of knowledge, but regardless Hiruzen would have insisted that the truth will come out. Hope this helps fill in the gaps that seemed to be there._ _ **"**_


	30. Chapter 26

**Article 30 - Chapter 26 - Inspiring the Next Generation**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Wow, another 10k word chapter for you all! The words came easy when I sat down to write, but actually sitting down to write and edit is the difficult part. Everyone should thank_ _ **writegood**_ _and_ _ **Redderthanred31**_ _for both Beta reading for me and helping me to make the chapter even better. You both rock!_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Hiruzen POV)**

My trusted Anbu took his leave as I pulled open a desk drawer reaching into it for Trusty, my old friend. Fumbling around in the drawer for the pipe, I instead bumped my hand into a folder. Recognizing it, I pulled it out, my eye caught by the text.

" _Thesis: The similarity of agricultural and medical uses of nutrient replacement."_

"Mina Hyuga… What are you playing at?"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 26 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

 _That old codger played me! How could I say no to an early promotion opportunity and after I had practically begged to be put into the Konoha Police Force even if it was out of context. It would be in firm opposition of what I had established was my motivation. Being-X this is thanks to you isn't it?!_

The elite Jonin standing before mewas one of the most dangerous people in the village to me specifically. Too wise to be reliably deceived. Too loyal and honorable to see the bigger picture. And too strong to overpower even with my puppet at the moment.

"You will start by learning the law. Your assignment over the next week is to write each of these codes and protocols twice by hand."

 _-And worst of all, he's not even a real teacher! He expects you to do all the work and then proceeds to take credit for it! He is infuriating!_

"...Yes sensei."

Kakashi's partially covered face remained stoic, but I sensed a smugness stemming from getting to put me through the grinder.

Despite my impeccable dynamic vision, kakashi vanished before my eyes.

Although anger flooded my conscious, his artful execution of the body flicker was impressive.

Raising the tome of law and flipping through the pages, the task which was already formidable became more daunting.

 _He's probably still nearby, that or taking care of his duties without me. Wasn't his job basically to babysit me and he can't even do that right!_

"No matter, he probably expects me to fail, and that reason alone is enough of a reason to prove him wrong."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I had been waiting patiently for any word from Obito since I sent out a message three days ago.

I was too busy to think much about it with copying the dreadfully dull law text. My dominant hand hurt, feeling so crippled that I started experimenting with the other to questionable success. The characters were a bit larger and plenty sloppier despite spending more effort.

 _If I wasn't working the hardest, how could I set a proper example for my clones?_

Casually maintaining 15 clones for so long, although they weren't expending chakra, gradually fatigued me leading me to question what kind of monster Naruto was in cannon even with the nine tailed fox suppressing his own chakra.

My bedroom barely fit all of us, many crowded onto my bed and the floor.

 _This isn't cheating, he only specified that I write the laws by hand which I am. Much like a legal specialist, finding and exploiting the loopholes of law is a necessity to force progress._

I had four days remaining before the deadline and I was nearly done, perhaps I'll write three copies to go above and beyond expectations. _How else can I earn his genuine respect besides my work ethic?_

Distorting buzz broke all copies of me from our collective focus, our heads swiveling along the same axis.

"Come along."

A winding vortex in the corner of my room with only an arm and mask poking out from it, the hand motioning me to enter. Before accepting his invitation, I dispelled all but one of my clones, leaving that one to hold the fort down while I stepped out. My single remaining clone already retrieved my satchel and had thrown it in my direction.

Plucking it out of the air by the fluttering strap, I swung it onto my back, then turning my attention back to the aesthetically swirling hole in space, I took an excited breath.

 _I've come this far, and I was but literal steps from a long time aspiration. An obsession. My relentless pursuit to find an answer to combat Being-X. I already conquered my fear of failure. I already sacrificed so much, even other peoples' lives to arrive at this moment. All that was left was to seize it._

Emotion was starting to defeat my self-discipline. I trembled with anticipation. I found myself wiping away a quick tear at the realization that what I had always wanted was now within my reach. The sensation was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.

 _What if it wasn't enough. What if the Sharingan couldn't rewrite me back into existence if Being-X smited me? What if Being-X was more powerful than I had ever imagined and in the end it would all be meaningless?_

I wasn't terrified because I was worried about any of those things. I was terrified because I wasn't. I wasn't scared of Being-X anymore, I was afraid that my rationality had completely left me. I wasn't weighed down by doubt, or guilt, or anything. I felt free.

 _I had chosen my path and I would continue on no matter what. In the end, there will be one. ME OR BEING-X._

I plunged into the welcoming hypnotic vortex, my ears being assaulted by the ambiance. Spit out on the other side as the portal closed, I saw a most grand display which made my heart soar.

Humongous cubical pillars of gray stone spread in every direction. Each one seeming like its own land mass to the far reaches of visibility 'till fading to darkness. The massive stone mass we were situated on was lit with torches which could only spread its light so far.

The sky was dyed black, that is if what was above me was actually even a sky, I couldn't really tell.

Two stars, painted in what I guessed was a type of black ink, intersected themselves with Kanji written along the lines. The Stars each stretched at least 10 yards in diameter and both were surrounded by a singular circle made up of additional Kanji. The landscape and sealing area was captivating leaving my breath trapped in my lungs.

"Woah." I marveled.

"Magnificent isn't it?"

"Yeah… So this is _your own_ dimension." I said looking over to Obito realizing he had already began preparations.

I had stepped through his portals before, but it was always like a gateway between two different spaces within my accepted reality. This was my first time experiencing Obito's personal dimension.

He crouched down running his black gloved hand along one of the many lines.

"Madara hardly talked about you, but he only ever had good things to say."

"Yeah? Well no one was closer to Madara than me."

"I agree. He said you managed to awaken your Mangekyo in life only moments after himself. The second Uchiha to ever awaken the Mangekyo. He was very proud of you."

My gut clenched at his words. _Why would he say this? What is his aim? He emphasized that Izuna was the second to awaken the MS, why here, why now?_

Something felt off about this, It probably wouldn't be safe to agree with him. It's a risk, but It's a risk I need to take.

"What are you talking about? I was the first to unlock the Mangekyo. I was younger than him and the pioneer of the earliest techniques."

Obito didn't move from his crouched position, his back to me.

"Is that right? I must have been misinformed... Please forgive my ignorance Izuna."

His words felt empty, like a shell of his real intention. _That was a test wasn't it? Did I pass?_

"Hn."

"We should get to work then. Step into the center." He said pointing to a spot with a finger.

 _No fear, No doubt, No regret. I am the great Izuna Uchiha, There's nothing I can do but play my part._

"Excellent. -And thank you for your assistance. I'm surprised fuinjutsu is becoming a lost art. The Hyuga don't even let me practice it…"

With a grin, I took my spot, anticipation eating at me.

"Yes, well I'm sure they don't want to arm you with the key to break their clans hidden sealing technique."

I responded with a slight nod to which Obito answered by slamming his palms into the ground.

The ink shifted color to neon blue and began glowing. The seal on the ground began collapsing on itself becoming smaller. The luminous blue chakra infused ink began crawling up my foot and leg. It felt incredibly hot to the point I was sure it would leave burns on my skin.

I clenched my teeth tight fighting to silence my pain. Distorted text and lines kept traveling up my skin reminding me of something akin to Orochimaru's curse mark.

My heart pounded inside my rib-cage as I failed to hold back an unbecoming whimper from escaping. My breath shot hot in and out of my nostrils, the notable smell of steam filling my sinuses.

"Hold steadfast. Let it merge with you." He directed.

I stilled every muscle in my body that wasn't convulsing in pain, the circle having encroached fully and the entire seal spread over my body.

Obito approached me while I was in a helpless state just trying to appear strong. The pain had subsided during the duration the seal stopped moving.

He walked past and then behind me. My mind was still hazy and discombobulated. Something hard struck me in the back between the shoulder blades. The ink covering my body broke back into movement, all in motion towards where I had been struck.

I could feel every line, every dot, and every character retreating to my back. My eyes watched in mingled horror and satisfaction as they all raced over my skin.

 _Just a little more. Just a little bit more!_

Ragged pants fell out of my agape mouth unable to hold it shut any longer.

Still standing miraculously, I scanned over my arms and legs noticing the seal was gone from those areas, it had consolidated considerably even if it still wasn't finished.

 _Accept it! Become part of me… Let us merge._

Finally the pain ceased vanishing like a figment of the imaginary. My deep breaths helping me recover.

"Ultimate Neno-Katasu-Kuni Ten Prong Vanishing Seal - Complete!"

My legs faltered beneath me. As I fell I reached out catching myself on the ground before collapsing. My fingers shook and twitched about while holding myself upright.

"The seal merges with your chakra so you can call upon it at will. Also it will be hidden unless in use so you won't have to worry about people discovering it, however even if they do they won't break the strongest Uchiha sealing technique in existence."

No longer in pain and the exhaustion quickly fading, I scrambled up feeling absolutely victorious.

 _I've done it. I've beaten the leaf village with my secured escape plan, and I have a viable tool to use against that shitty god! All that remains is to become more familiar with that tool 'till the point it becomes an extension of my person. I'll never let 'it' look down on me again._

I burst into enthusiastic laughter. I had never felt this way before. I had never felt as in control of everything as I did in this moment. It was intoxicating. Truly Addictive.

"It's nice to be back. Hahahahahahahaha!"

Obito watched me as I caved to my overflowing elation. This moment I wished I could live on a loop.

 _This is it. This is pure bliss. Obito, I owe this to you._

"I'm in your debt. I can't begin to describe my appreciation. I feel sorry for those without the sharingan."

Walking closer, he stopped in front of me swooping an arm in and resting it on my shoulder.

"Glad to hear it, because there is still much to be done." He said with a nod.

My smile widened and my facial muscles were starting to feel tired. I can't think of the last time I smiled for so long so absolutely.

Making my way back to the satchel resting on the ground, I flipped it open retrieving the parchment inside my secret compartment.

Activating it in my hand, the expected half-body appeared in my hand atop the storage scroll. Reinforcing my arm with chakra, I brought it out in front of me, admiring both my craftsmanship and treasure. My spare hand rested on my chest, over the pendant that was my other treasure.

 _Don't worry Ayasha, I'll wipe Orochimaru off the face of the planet. I won't let him get away with taking you away. I'll make him pay._

Leon's skin had tanned a bit from petrification, his spine hung out exposed below his torso, and in the center of his forehead was embedded the remaining EMS eye awakened by Neeko. I took a few extra moments to marvel at the color and beauty of the eyes. They were black like polished onyx even sparkling like jewels and they were even more beautiful after transformation.

"You look happy."

Without pulling my attention away, I only nodded. My mouth was embarrassingly salivating quite a bit so I took the time to swallow.

Fighting back my pride, I lifted the puppet overhead, setting it down slowly on my back. Forming a stem diverging from my spine and pushing it out of my body, I merged my bone structure with the exposed spine.

I Materialized Chakra threads. I wrapped them all around the divergent spine layering the exterior with additional calcified bone connecting and merging with Leon.

"How do I activate the seal and store the puppet?" I asked.

Obito stood motionless staring off into space turned away from me again.

"Imagine a dark bottomless hole in your mind and the target you wish to store, then imagine a bit of your chakra and your target disappearing into the void. To retrieve it you'd nearly do the opposite, imagining chakra entering the void and the stored target exiting it being exchanged for said chakra."

"I see. So the trick is visualization. Got it."

 _This should be easy for me. I've imagined the arc and trajectory of many things in both lives. This will be an exercise on a similar level I imagine._

I closed my eyes painting a hole… _darker… It needs to be even darker. A void not even light can escape -yes. Now, Imagine Leon with his frosted highlights in that mop of his hair._

I imagined His tanned complexion, his toned musculature, his three onyx black eyes, the scroll grasped in his hand, and his merged spine.

 _Now… Everything disappear, vanish into the void!_

Inside my head Leon and the parchment he clutched in his hands fell into the unending and bottomless void. Channeling chakra through my body, consciously I imagined part of the flow joining Leon disappearing and leaving only the black nothingness which originated.

I suddenly felt considerably lighter, opening my eyes and reaching an arm behind me patting the place where Leon had previously been mounted. Something hard and shaped like several of those popcorn packaging pellets of my old world except hard as rock touched my fingertips. The puppet was gone and all that was left was my exposed spine.

Consciously I imagined my skin stretching out and coming together mending the gap where my skin no longer sat. I felt the tightness and elasticity of the skin as it pulled and reformed. The gap had been rectified and I was a new person.

 _I am Izuna Uchiha!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Neji POV)**

The room was warm and noisy. Murmurs of other students as well as chirping birds filled the air. The seat beside me was noticeably vacant making me drum my fingers on the desk of impulse.

"Yeah, we should totally play ninja when class is over but I get to be a team captain!" I heard recognizing the voice's owner as Kagetsu.

I bit my lip gently, only hard enough until the pain was the focus of my mind.

"Ha~ yeah. Anyone who wants to come play can -Except you Lee, no one wants you on their team." Tatsuya said.

Mina and Sasuke were both absent from the class, Mina because she was excused due to extracurriculars while Sasuke still hadn't returned since the incident.

Everyone in class was doing their own thing now that class was effectively over even if we hadn't been dismissed yet. I would need to head back to the clan as soon as we were finished here.

While sitting restless and bored, I spied two people in the corner of the room which were the only two not talking, a boy and a girl.

The girl is from a trash clan and probably wouldn't make it to graduation so I hadn't bothered to remember her name, but the boy sitting next to her I did know, Iwaizumi Nara. He was a failure compared to clan kids always in the middle of the pack, but I could tell he was smarter than he let on.

He never spoke unless spoken to, and he hardly showed any interest in improvement meaning he was worthless. I hadn't talked with him but maybe twice of necessity since joining the academy.

He always spent his free time reading which reminded me vaguely of _someone_ else I knew when she wasn't training.

I had already written him off, but I still found myself curious.

 _Maybe I'll go talk to him for a minute, just to confirm my suspicions._

Pushing my chair back and standing, I grabbed the chair moving it over to the desk behind his because of a lack of free chairs in the room.

"Is all you do read?" I asked catching the attention of the brunette girl beside him.

She looked between us several times as he provided no response, not even bothering to look up from his book.

"He's not really a people person." The girl said.

"Nara, Did you hear me?" I asked a bit perturbed.

With a sigh, he slipped a bookmark into the book closing it. He turned around in his seat sideways swinging his neck and stopping to lock onto me. After seeing me his brow pulled together seeming irritated.

"What is it?"

"Do you do anything except read?" I rephrased the question.

"Do you do anything but train?" He retorted.

He was irritating trying to reverse my own question like that.

"If you don't train then you won't be prepared to become a ninja." I said with a smirk.

"And even if I trained like you it wouldn't guarantee I'd be prepared either. Are we done here?"

"So what, nothings guaranteed so why try? Is that it?"

He slouched over in his chair harder, leaning closer to myself. "Not everyone is fit to be excellent, it must be hard to comprehend for you isn't it _prodigy_?"

The girl's jaw hung in awe open watching the discussion heating up.

"I can't get him to say more than a few words to me." She announced.

I ignored her, smiling harder at my apparent victory by the Nara's forfeit. "Yes, well we can't all be born destined for greatness, that much is true. It seems you understand your place."

Slamming his hands on the desk capturing the attention of the rest of the room, He started towards the door.

"Iwa-chan, where are you headed? We've still got 11 minutes." Watari Sensei said.

He turned around scowling from between the door frame. "Bathroom."

Acceptingly Sensei nodded excusing him.

I was right after all. _Uninspired and worthless._

"Don't mind him. My name is Tenten, it's nice to meet you." The girl said with a friendly smile.

I looked back to her having my curiosity already quenched. "Did I ask for your name?"

She frowned, crossing her arms now pouting. "You two deserve each other."

 _What? He was nothing like me. I had conviction and talent, while he was undisciplined and talentless. There was no comparison, was there?_

"I don't understand." I said confused.

"Figures."

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

A gentle knock arrived from my bedroom door. Without even finishing the sentence I was writing, I dropped my pen and dispelled my clones.

"You have a visitor Mina." Tokuma's voice rang out through the door.

"Who is it? Neji?"

The door slid open revealing a short girl with lustrous dark blue locks aside my parental figure.

"Hinata! What are you doing here?" I asked as I noticed her eye the various papers lying scattered around my room.

"Umm… Well, I _-erm-_ came here to see you."

Quickly I made my way over to her giving her a hug which she accepted timidly. I struggled internally knowing how long was acceptable to hold the hug so I released her prematurely not to cross any lines.

 _Physical contact helps build rapport which would be ideal, but it often requires the use of knowing when to gradually escalate after having already gone so far._

Tokuma smiled after witnessing the display waving as he retreated back downstairs.

"So whats up?"

"... Well, you see… Do you remember when you said… that you'd help me be more confident?"

"Mhmm!" I hummed giving her an energetic nod and a smile. "You want me to help you?"

Hinata pressed her fingers together playing with them turning away and looking at the floor.

"...Yes."

"Well, what's in it for me?" I asked sarcastically.

Hinata looked up surprised probably not expecting that.

"Well… I have-"

"-I was only kidding. Of course I'll help you. I said so before didn't I?"

A genuine smile spread across her face and her cheeks reddened. She wasn't having trouble holding eye contact with me after that which was awesome. My heart beat faster in my chest.

 _I am lucky I get to see such pure emotions from her._

"Thank you so much." She said without hesitation.

"-But it'll be difficult. There will be times you'll want to quit, but when it's all over you will feel like a new person."

The shining admiration and excitement was as evident as a ray of light in the dark. It was a rare experience I felt blessed to witness.

 _Love is much simpler than people make it out to be. The core of Love stems from a willingness to interpret people's behavior and understanding why they are behaving that way. True love is not about accepting the whole of us. We as people are appalling, I know this better than anyone, but Hinata might be the least appalling person I've ever met._

"I'll-I'll never give up." She said with determination despite stuttering, her eyes sparkling.

 _Romanticism is a lie. We are not pure, kind, loving beings looking for a soul mate. We are dangerous beings on the brink of insanity. That is what it means to be human. We all have impulses, feelings, and desires. I desire to be better, can Hinata make me better?_

"Great. That passion is great Hinata, It means you really want to change."

 _Lovers want to see you become better people, that's why they need to critique us. I want to make her better and protect her… and maybe I could become just a little more like her._

A vision of Leon's half mutilated body entered my thoughts to my horror.

"Is… everything alright?" Hinata asked.

 _If I could just be with her for a while before I defect… Can she make me better? Can she make me more like her?_

"Ha~Yeah, sorry, I was thinking about what training we could do." I lied.

 _I'm getting ahead of myself. There's no guarantee Hinata will even accept me._

"Let's go outside." I said, shifting my weight onto my toes raring to go.

Hinata smiled and nodded determined.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Hinata was too gentle. She didn't like the idea of inflicting pain, but underneath all of that I noticed she hated the idea of being a burden even more. A glorious flame of desire burned within her, and that was something I could work with.

"Hold it… Another 30 seconds aught to be good. You can keep going right?" I asked.

Flexing my obliques and keeping my legs perfectly straight, my body maintained the pinnacle of steadiness.

Hinata's legs trembled and her butt lifted in the air due to a lack of strength.

"Hhhhshh" She gasped while her arms still held her up. "N-n-no problem."

Both locked into plank positions, we fought to improve ourselves. Second by second passed, An eye locked on the open silver pocket watch. Hinata's face hung close to the ground, her shoulders quaking from the building effort to persevere.

She dropped landing in the dirt panting. Frustrated she slapped the ground with her hands.

"Urgh! Useless!" She whispered to herself.

"Hinata, you did great, you shouldn't be upset." I said in honesty.

"Your… just trying to make me feel better right?" She asked tears welling in her eyes. "-Because I'm useless."

Blood in my temple throbbed while jumping to my feet.

"Not at all. You have a terrible habit of comparing yourself to others. Do the best you can and be content with that."

I was giving her advice, but despite knowing of its validity, it was difficult advice to accept. After all, I still struggle not comparing myself to others.

"Why do you think we're doing things you could do by yourself?" I asked hoping to convince her.

"..."

Hinata's silence let me know to keep going.

"It's because they are things you can compete versus yourself in. Strive for self-progress and understanding then everything will come in time. Tunneling on the destination should be the last thing you want to do. Instead, focus on the journey of improvement."

My hypocrisy cut into me. I had found myself now sputtering off the words of Tokuma, but that was fine as long as they helped Hinata. I just wanted her to be happy with herself and if that was possible it would be acceptable.

"Alright, grab some water and then you'll run a lap around the trail. I'll time you to get a baseline, but it won't help us unless you dig deep and give me everything you've got so that next time when you beat that time it will already show your improvement."

Wobbling onto her feet, her eyes glinting with hope met mine despite the obvious discord with her mentality and her body.

"I'll get better. T-T-Thank you so-oo much." She said with a sniffle.

I let her take a quick break before starting the next exercise, not of pity, but of wanting to see her do her best. Afterwards I counted her off and she passionately burst over the starting line I drew with a branch.

I followed behind her as she ran, glancing down every now and again to check on the stopwatch.

 _[00:03:32] - [00:05:47] - [00:07:04] - [00:09:36]_

"Pace yourself, you've still got another 2 miles."

She was caked in sweat, panting ruggedly still determined to finish strong. Stains had formed down her back and beneath her arms.

 _If she doesn't have an opponent she needs to compare herself to, seems she can give it her all._

 _She was amazing._ Fury ignited inside nearly blinding me from my shaking vision. The unfair treatment she was given all this time was unwarranted. _She always had the potential. How were they so blind they never saw it?_

Inside her I saw a younger version of myself. Nieve about the workings of the world wanting to be accepted. Her limitations were that she was falling behind her competition and left to dry which was oddly similar to how I once felt.

Being so short, coaches and trainers didn't see a worthy investment for their time to nurture my talent, spending their time on taller and more naturally athletic players. I hadn't improved solely on my own merit back then, but it was a constant struggle to prove myself worthy to receive that help that pushed me to be the best I could. And still in the end, it was like everyone who doubted me was proved right when my eyesight deteriorated. Not for any of the reasons they might have thought, but because I hadn't achieved the greatness I craved.

 _It's such a shame._

Although I found a lot of positive qualities about her, with my active Byakugan I could tell her prolonged chakra cultivation throughout her body for enhancement was still at a novice level.

 _Hmm… She became proficient enough to use it in short spurts over the course of the clan training, but couldn't maintain it. I guess she never needed either stamina or long-term control because she would fail before it was necessary. It's something important to instill in her._

She kept running, gradually losing steam and pace.

"It's now when your effort will mean the most. If you can keep giving your all till the end you'll be closer to change than you have ever been!" I encouraged.

Her legs moved faster after my words, hardly enough that would matter towards her time, but the effort didn't slip past me unnoticed.

 _[00:11:29] - [00:13:27] - [00:16:44] - [00:21:15]_

Her running form had long broken down from fatigue, being compelled to move forward from pure willpower. It was inspiring to witness. I broke out in goosebumps and got chills even though it was sweltering outside.

The finish line where we had started appeared tantalizingly at the edge of visibility.

Her speed had died down on average over the long expedition, but she still seemed to me to be putting most (if not all) of her effort into it still which was all that I asked of her.

"You're so close. Finish strong Hinata-hime."

" _ **Hueeeeph-pheeew-Hueeeeph-pheeew"**_

She didn't kick up her speed or shift gears with the objective, being the finish line, so near.

"You can cheat me, but can you accept cheating on yourself?" I coached.

Her speed fell slightly at my words. I noticed that she took my criticism as negative reinforcement even though it had not been meant that way at all.

Slightly upset by the ending, but still massively impressed by the majority of our practice session, I congratulated Hinata as she crossed the finish line while glancing at my watch.

"You did wonderful for your first time out, You really pushed yourself and now you have a goal to beat, but don't think I didn't see you losing focus there at the end."

 _[00:22:21]_

 _I hoped I laced my last statement with enough positives to offset her self destruction at criticism._

She collapsed onto her butt trying to suck all the air from her surroundings greedily.

"You'll have an easier time breathing if you put both your arms overhead, it opens your airways." I said showing her by example. "-Like this"

She panted for some time before leaning back and lying on the ground.

"I failed! I gave up at the end just like you said. I'll never be confident! I'm hopeless! I can't change, I'm so sorry!"

Shocked by her sudden outburst, I walked over to her and slapped her in the face.

"Hinata! Look at me. Hinata!" I shouted while she gaped at me in distress. "Confidence comes from preparation. -From knowing that you've done everything you could so that there is no longer any room for doubt or regret."

"-I'm just not strong like you. You were confident before you ever prepared! What makes you think I can be anything when I've always been nothing!" She shouted.

"Hinata. Since when have you ever been able to talk to me like that? It's only been one day and you can already speak your mind more clearly."

Realizing this, she sheepishly turned away flushing even redder despite already being overheated and taxed.

"Hinata. What do you fear?" I asked.

"..."

"Do you know?"

She sat still and silent for several creeping moments. I wanted to shout the full extent of everything on my mind, but knew that it would accomplish nothing if she wasn't ready to hear it.

Finally she shook her head 'no' indicating I could continue.

"The greatest fears we experience are internal. They come from inside us, and that's because we all have dreams. It can be scary to accept your dream and even scarier to say that you want that dream for yourself. Do you know why?"

She frowned looking deeply puzzled.

"Because I might fail?" she asked hoping for me to clear it up.

"Because when you dedicate yourself and put your soul into something and fail, your worried all that effort will be wasted and you question how you'd feel about yourself if that happens. It's easier to not try and never fail, than to give something your all and never reach your dreams isn't it?"

"That's exactly how I feel! It's the worst. I-I've always been like that, I don't want to! I-I hate it!" she said.

"Then you have to be fearless. You have to just go for it and be damned if it doesn't work out. You won't know unless you try! When someone tells you that you can't do something doesn't it make you upset? Does it make you angry? Channel that rage into something more constructive than feeling bad. Just think 'You don't know that!' or 'yes I can.'

"...Y-y... **YES I CAN!** " she shouted. **"YES I CAN!"**

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her emotion was proof that she had what I had. She had the Mamba Mentality. She had my most desired trait that took so long to instill in myself and all she needed was for someone to help drag it out of her. She had the heart of a champion, like my greatest idol from my last world: Kobe Bryant.

" **YES YOU CAN!"** I encouraged.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

My footsteps fell in a steady rhythm on the pavement. I was certain that my appearance was a disgrace to womankind, hair in disarray and smelly from training, but I had already been in the vicinity so I figured I might as well stop by the hospital anyways.

Outside the building I noticed a man garbed in white robes etched with red. He also wore a large white brimmed hat embroidered with the land of fire's emblem. _The Sandaime._

"Ah Mina-kun, how are you enjoying your mentorship?" He asked.

 _Like chewing on glass._

"It's been… educational." I admitted.

"Wonderful, glad to hear." He said his eyes pinching shut with a smile. "Do you have a moment?"

 _He wants to talk to me? About what? Was he waiting here for me?_

"Of course Hokage-sama." I said with a slight bow of necessity.

He opened his body up uncrossing his arms. "Yes. I hear you've attempted to visit Sasuke-kun daily since your arrival back in the village."

My guard and alertness jumped several levels. I tried to determine what conclusions he may have jumped to with that knowledge and if it were actually important enough to be standing in front of the hospital for such a reason.

"He is a treasured friend. I'm sure he would do the same for me."

"Yes, well I went ahead and informed the staff to allow you to visit him now."

 _Something wasn't right. He could have had an underling send news but instead he came here himself. There must be more to this._

"You're troubling yourself personally so that I can visit Sasuke then? Thank you. I'm not trying to sound unappreciative or anything, but did you have to come personally or…?" I asked confused.

He chuckled under his breath, life leaking from the elders laugh.

"The village is my family and I wish for nothing more than everyone's well being. I wanted to inform the staff in person for no other reason than to help."

 _In all those words, he somehow found a way to not answer my question… that is unless he meant that he wanted to feel better by delivering the news himself in person. If that's true how do you get any work done at all?_

"Yes, I see… So I can go see Sasuke-kun then?" I said unable to hold my excitement back.

He nodded sagely at my question. "Indeed, don't let me keep you." he said with a friendly wave.

Nodding back, I decided to leave him with another pleasantry before parting. "Thank you again Hokage-sama, It means a lot to me."

"Heh, Go run ahead now and see your friend." he said with a grin turning his back to me and making his way down the path.

People along the walkway parted allowing him to pass. Bystanders had stopped and stared at us or perhaps just him as we had been talking, but now they were only watching him as he left.

I let out an uneasy breath, tension fading from my body from the encounter.

Entering the hospital and making my way to the receptionist on duty, I was shortly escorted down a staircase by an on duty ninja after informing them of the nature of my visit.

Following him down a narrow hallway, we stopped outside a room with two people seated outside clad in obfuscated ninja attire beneath traveler robes. They looked as if they were trying to blend seamlessly into the environment, both of their eyes' training on me as I approached.

One of the hallways lighting fixtures eerily flicked on and off quickly every couple of seconds. The rooms along the way all seemed vacant. This wing of the hospital seemed deserted besides for the Shinobi.

Without words, one stood up and opened the door to the room revealing a dim room devoid of active light.

I stepped inside, the door closing behind me leaving me closed into the dark space.

The room wasn't dark enough to blind me, but all the same I flicked up the lightswitch mounted on the nearest wall. The figure lying still in bed hissed tossing upside down from the light.

"Turn it off!"

"Are you allergic to light now or are you just trying to wallow?"

The boy turned to me squinting and shielding his eyes with his hands while still lying down, his expression sullen.

"..."

"How are you physically? Are you hurt?" I asked.

The boy still refused to say anything, likely still struggling to see anything being bathed in the overhead fluorescent bulbs light.

Realizing my current approach wasn't working, I decided to try something different.

I approached his bed, turning and sitting beside him where he lay. The recognizable Iodoform scent mixed with body odor might have been enough to gag me if I hadn't spent so much time in the sewers lately.

I reached for his hand which was snaked underneath his white medical sheets, but he pulled it back not allowing me to grab it.

"hn."

"You are _especially_ personable today." I emphasized.

"You are _especially_ intolerable today." he finally responded.

 _At least he's got jokes._

Our stares met in a heated deadlock, but he relented gazing off to his side.

"You smell like shit." I said.

"Yeah? You smell _especially personable."_

I couldn't help but crack a grin, and despite knowing he was fighting back his own, it still slipped onto his face.

"I'm… such an idiot."

"Why?"

"The person I thought I could trust the most… He destroyed my life, my family, and my home."

I thought about his words, fishing for something I could say. Maybe something sympathetic but I hadn't ever been in a situation like his.

"I can't imagine. I lost the most important person in my life... twice. I lost my home before, but I don't think it quite stacks up to what you've been through…"

"It's impossible to ever go back. I can't move on and be the same person I was before."

"I can't blame you." I said. "So what is it? Is revenge what you want?"

"I… I thought I understood. I thought I understood what you meant back when you told me about Orochimaru, when he took Ayasha-san from you... I'm an idiot. I understood nothing. It's people like _them_ who are everything that's wrong with the world. They are a plague that consumes everything until nothing is left."

 _This was my opportunity._

"You're right. I couldn't agree more." I said. "Sasuke, we are different. Everyone else is going on about with their lives oblivious, Content to just keep living. But us? We are stuck standing still. We will use that pain as a source of fuel to see change. We are avengers."

"I'll kill him. I can't stand even the thought of him. He used - He…" He choked. "He lied to me and pretended to be my loving brother, slaughtered my entire family. And for what? To measure his abilities?"

Tears welled up in his eyes. His breathing staggered and several of his words had gotten trapped in is throat trying to open up to me. My stomach churned and I thought I might vomit.

"He s-spared me because he thought I was worthless unless I had his eyes. He told me I had to kill my best friend to have the same power he had. I'll never listen to him. I refuse to walk his path and let him control me like-like a puppet!" Sasuke cried.

 _The irony… If he only knew that I was kind of doing the same thing. That is brother loved him more than anything. My chest hurt hearing him break in front of me. The reality of my own actions causing his suffering was a price I would have to live with the rest of my life. I didn't know it would be this hard. I knew everything that happened to him before, but it didn't help soften the blow. I am the monster._

"He used his ultimate power to make me watch him kill everyone! Everyone I ever cared about, Everyone who I called family. He even killed the illusion of my loving brother. **ALL AT ONCE HE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! I CAN NEVER FORGET - NEVER FORGIVE!** "

He threw his arms around me panting into my ear. His moist tears dripping onto my shoulder soaking it. His sobbing chokes deeply disturbed me. My blood ran cold throughout my body, my arms were limp and numb and I couldn't find any words at all to say.

 _I had done this to him. I knew what I was doing all along… I couldn't have changed it, not without giving away the opportunity to get my hands on the mangekyo. As bad as sasuke feels now, if he knew the threat of Being-X he would understand right? He could forgive me correct?_

I squeezed him back trying to hold myself back from crying. The image of Ayasha filled my mind, she couldn't even look at what I had become.

 _She had forsaken me - vanishing from my mind like a tactical retreat. If she ever really knew, there's no way she could love me after what I've done - What I've become. I'm too deep to ever return to the folds of humanity. I am Izuna Uchiha, the monster._

"You and me, that's all we need. W-we don't need anyone else, okay? I'll help you kill Itachi. We will become an unstoppable team of destruction. We'll wipe every monster from the face of the planet." I said

 _That means we would have to kill me._

"It's a deal, you can help me kill Itachi, and I will help you kill Orochimaru. Together we will become lethal weapons. I… I don't know where I would be without you."

 _I do._

"We can't tell anyone. This has got to stay a secret between just us." I said.

"Duh? I might be an idiot but I'm not stupid… wait I-"

"-I think you're plenty stupid, just the way I like you." I teased dabbing at my itchy eyes still clouded. Sasuke's face was distorted from the refraction of my vision.

"Yeah? Well you're still a loser. You're lucky you have an idiot like me." he said.

"You're right. I couldn't ask for a better friend. Thank you."

 _Seriously, thank you. You and Neji might be the only people I can be myself around even If i can never tell you about some of the terrible things I've done. I wonder if I'll ever be able to repay my debt to you._

 _Look at me… I've become attached. Attached to people I'll probably just end up losing. But I'm different than I used to be, I will cherish the bonds I have while I have them, You taught me that Ayasha._

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _He was supposed to meet me in the morning, at this spot at 9am._

A week has passed since my assignment to copy the tome of law twice over. Pride swelled within me as I flipped through the innumerable pages in hand.

Instead of two copies, I had managed to finish the third copy to go above and beyond despite still having the free time to train Hinata, participate in clan duties, send the Hokage a report on the inner workings of the Hyuga, and visit Sasuke twice inside the hospital.

 _I might be a monster, but I am a very competent little monster._

Sasuke would soon be discharged which was good news. He's been pestering me to let him know what I had been up to but I told him it would be a secret 'till he got out. I didn't want to have to explain that I was doing a vocational apprenticeship to be allowed early promotion in what would be historically his birthright, the Konoha Police Force. It would cause problems and I could deal with those repercussions after he was out.

The four stone faces of the past and present Hokages carved in the mountain loomed over the village. The sun high in the sky beating down with heat informed me how late sensei was for our rendezvous.

He was as inpunctual as I remembered, if not worse. I feared I may pull my hair out of frustration before he would show.

 _Does he think my time is valueless? Does he realize that I could be doing more important things right now with my time than waiting around for him?_

A cloud of smoke materialized alerting me to the arrival of another. The copy ninja standing before me with a disinterested expression. His face was covered, and it was doubtful he would show me anything he didn't want me to see, so it was just a hunch, but I doubted my hunch was too far off base.

"You are - 3 hours and 14 minutes late. I bet you have a wonderful excuse." I said not bothering to hide the edge in my voice.

"I got lost on the road of life."

 _Ah yes… I remember this, this is going to be cancer to have to deal with on a regular basis._

"Wonderful. Perhaps you should take a map with you next time?" I poked.

"I don't think I like you." He stated matter of factly.

"No? But I like you so much I even wrote an extra copy of the tome of law, just for you sensei." I said holding out the papers to him for him to accept.

Instead he looked dumbly at me.

"You wrote… three copies?" Grabbing the papers out of my hand, he flipped through three or maybe four pages before stopping, folding them up, and then sticking them into his pouch mounted on his rear end. "What a dedicated pupil I have."

"So what are we going-"

"What do you think the purpose was of copying the laws?" He asked.

"To commit them for memorization as to not make mistakes policing the village." I said proudly.

Correct. These-" He said patting his pouch "-These are the laws of the land. Rules citizens abide by, as well as rules for those who are trusted to enforce them. What do you think happens when someone breaks these rules?"

"Your question is very broad. Do you mean a citizen or shinobi sensei?"

"Either."

Taking a moment to formulate and organize my thoughts I finally said:

"They are disciplined to attempt to reform them?"

 _That is a logical conclusion._

"Yes, yes. But why do they need to be reformed?"

 _Why must they be reformed? Because they are criminals? Is there any other reason?_

"Because society requires an equilibrium to function properly?" I asked despite meaning for it to be an answer.

Kakashi sighed at my answer sparking my displeasure he was being so nit picky.

"While yes that's true, but it's because rule violators are regarded as scum of the earth by the shinobi world. Their prioritization of their ideals over the ideals dictated by society is heavily frowned upon, but those who would abandon their comrades and loved ones are worse than scum. Remember that."

 _Did he seriously make me write all of that just to give me his 'those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum' speech? You don't like me? Well the feelings mutual. It's no wonder all of your students from cannon went and got new sensei's. You're deficient as a teacher._

"I see… I will remember that Kakashi-sensei."

He tilted his head to the side looking like he had a question for me.

"Great. Now for your next lesson. Teamwork is invaluable both as a shinobi and in life, so I'm requiring you to go find Chunin from this list to fill the two empty spots in our team before we assemble our police task force. Feel free to take your time, in fact take as much time as you need."

I snatched the paper out of his hand, turning it around, and scanned its contents.

 _Are you fucking kidding me? This is Kakashi's own order to assemble the task force and the qualified inductees which were recommended. He was supposed to do this himself but is instead pawning it off on me! Not to mention he probably wants me to take as long as possible so he can shirk his responsibilities._

 _I didn't even want to do this, to even end up on this task force, but now being told this? I'll make you work Kakashi, I'll finish building a team before the nights out. I'll make you regret underestimating me...Or is making me finish the team as fast as possible his true motive. Damnit! I hate being forced into lose-lose situations. I'd much rather be the one making someone else choose between two losing options. Are we more alike than I first gave him credit? Well, I just have to make sure I'm not the only one losing. If I lose than I'll make sure Kakashi loses with me._

My head started to hurt from my dark violent imagination trying to formulate a plot to catch Kakashi in. Something he would absolutely hate, when I arrived at a beautiful thought.

At that moment, a _**Squaaak**_ screeched out causing my head to shift skyward toward the approaching noise of flapping wings.

A hawk dove down at a blitzing pace before slowing and landing on Kakashi's outstretched arm.

Nimbly he untied the scroll tied to the birds left talon in what I figured was the blink of an eye. Leaning closer to the paper unrolled in his fingertips, he stood like a statue for half a minute before looking back to me.

"I've got to run, remember the importance of teamwork." He said cheekily.

 _Oh, I'll remember._ I thought with a smile.

His hand shot behind him, and a scroll was tossed overhead. As the item fell from gravity, His hands came together near his mouth, his teeth tearing apart skin beside a knuckle.

 _No way!_

His fingers shifted in and out of hand signs masterfully only the least bit visible to my quick eyes while I was at full attention.

 _[Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram]_

 _My heart beat hard within my chest. I gambled on not activating my byakugan, but Kakashi would have certainly noticed and been concerned if I activated my Dojutsu at such a time. After all, he wasn't Ebisu-sensei._

A webbing spread out after his bloodied hand struck the ground releasing a cloud of smoke.

"Paku, I need you to head to the northern guard post. A scouting team needs you to locate a hiding spy. I'll be heading to the western outpost."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Just a simple drill us Jonin do, nothing to worry your little diligent head over, " He said belittling me.

"Of course..."

 _The summoning jutsu! HE JUST DID THE SUMMONING JUTSU! -Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram!_

 _I now have half the puzzle of the Summoning technique and now all I need is to find the rest of it. I need to commit this to memory. No, perhaps I should write it down in case I somehow forget. Regardless, it would seem fortune smiled on me today._

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Let me know how I'm doing. When I see your comments telling me what I did either good or bad, It helps me motivate myself to write more often! Thanks everyone for making it this far in the story.

 **Reviewer Question: - Who is a famous role model/character who's inspired you to be better?** _(When I mentioned Kobe Bryant in this chapter, he certainly is one for me. His drive for never being satisfied with where he currently is and obsession on his goals make himself the best version of himself speaks to me. The Mamba Mentality is all about self improvement and warding off complacency, something I have to focus on or else I end up coasting.)_

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS and COMMENTS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _While Hiruzen probably doesn't think that Mina was the one that did it or is involved, lets face it, she's just so young and shouldn't be capable of even knowing how at her age without being a reincarnate, Her natural parallels with Orochimaru and the fact that she was caught so early on having at the very least found Orochimaru's papers in the past and the fact that the disappearance of the family seemed Orochimaru-esc, I'm sure it's in his mind, which is why Kakashi is now responsible for her._ _ **"**_

 _ **-18sprar1**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Like I said in the above comment's answer, Hiruzen has many suspects in mind, but without definitive proof that the Uchiha family didn't actually defect, he won't be able to zero in on them without resourcefulness. Kakashi is now Mina's mentor and could spot suspicious activity causing them to dig deeper into her, but Danzo, Orochimaru, and a few others are probably higher priorities to him._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Re Fenrir**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Whoops, that's a silly mistake, one that my entire story is riddled with. Thanks for pointing that out, I'm going to make major edits to the story, so that's another thing on my list I'll need to change when I get to it. I'm trying to pick up the pace a bit in the story now that we're past most of everything that is important to her Pre-graduation. One more significant arc is upcoming, a few loose ends here and there that need to be wrapped up, and then She'll graduate and I'll separate the first part of her story, her childhood into a volume, and after graduation will start volume 2. I'll likely write them all in this same thread/story not requiring people to jump to a different page to view it and just add volume 1 to each chapter heading and make a table of contents for chapter 1 so that people who want to skip over the childhood for the power fantasy can. Thanks for your support!_

 **Ps.** _While yes there technically will be a different energy than chakra implemented eventually, and yes there will be dimension travel, the dimension travel will be near the very end of the narrative only after it is explainable. Hope you stick around long enough to see it come to fruition._ _ **"**_

 _ **-phelipebr**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Naruto has had barely any 'screen time'. Also just how I imagine Mina I think there is likely too much incompatibility between them. Naruto is so incredibly bull headed especially at the beginning of the story. To the point that when Sasuke is willing to compromise with Naruto, turning around to fight him instead of fleeing the rest of the way on foot at the genin level Final Valley confrontation. He gives Naruto the chance to try to convince him, but Naruto was unable to understand Sasuke, only greedily wanting him to remain for himself. Mina understands that relationships are built on understanding and compromise, something she likely believes is impossible/impractical with Naruto._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Ahmed Maged**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Good. She's meant to be a bit creepy and odd. She's an antagonist and has multiple character flaws. At the beginning of the story she's borderline narcissistic and sociopathic despite biologically wanting affection. She's creepy because she was written that way. I rate your observation skills 8/8 Great mate._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Robinrin**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far! I've put in a fair amount of work so I'm glad that you spent the time to express your appreciation. I like your idea as well, but I don't know If I'll end up using it. I will keep it in mind moving forward though. Hope to hear your opinions/criticism on this new chapter!_ _ **"**_

 _ **-WesternReader**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I'm kinda bound and limited by what Kishimoto wrote into his story, however, whatever he chose not to establish I have free reign over. Abortions would likely be available for at the very least top class kunochi, because they are too important to let go of if they still want to serve especially in wartime. The Byakugan also would assist in this, and like it was said in the chapter she went to someone from the clan she trusted, so it's not like she thought she was free to do as she wished, she wanted to sneakily abort the baby before anyone could find out. As for puppets, I believe they are fairly strong used by tacticians from range, and Mina has a range deficiency only really capable of close range Taijutsu and slight mid-range combat with the Dead bone pulse. However, if you've read up to here you'll know she was already hatching her plot to gain the MS puppet even from that early on._ _ **"**_


	31. Chapter 27

**Article 31 - Chapter 27 - A Calculated Gamble**

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 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Hello! Thanks to several readers messages, I released the first chapter of my_ _ **Yu-gi-oh GX fanfiction**_ _. You might think that it won't interest you at first mention, but even if your not an avid or nostalgic fan of Yu-gi-oh, the story itself could still interest you if you give it a chance. If I get enough support I plan on doubling up and taking on both stories at the same time. Remember to communicate your opinions about this chapter and the_ _ **Yu-Gi-Oh GX fanfic**_ _that you know you'll end up checking out ^.^ Kay-Thanks. Here's_ _ **8.5k+ words**_ _._ _ **Enjoy.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

"What happened?" I asked.

"Just a simple drill us Jonin do, nothing to worry your little diligent head over, " He said belittling me.

"Of course..."

The summoning jutsu! HE JUST DID THE SUMMONING JUTSU! -Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram!

I now have half the puzzle of the Summoning technique and now all I need is to find the rest of it. I need to commit this to memory. No, perhaps I should write it down in case I somehow forget. Regardless, it would seem fortune smiled on me today.

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┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 27 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

Half a year has gone and past since my discovery of the Summoning jutsu's hand signs. I'm not much closer to being able to perform the jutsu - even trying fervently with clones to accelerate the process to no success. I can't get the jutsu to initialize, the mental part of the jutsu is still a mystery.

I was so tantalizingly close it hurt. I found myself thinking of more and more risky ways to attain the information I wanted but most of them amounted to nothing, and the rest of them would see me as a traitor to the hidden leaf, something I could not accept this early. Thus remained a single idea that carried heavy risk, yet was still within an acceptable risk-reward ratio.

My single minded obsession of obtaining the sharingan, especially as the goal neared, stunted my growth in other areas, and despite the value of the summoning jutsu, I couldn't allow this cycle of incompetence to continue - That is, if I planned to be publicly held as a _**Legend in the making.**_

Since Sasuke was released from the hospital, he began training with even greater vigor than before.

We were each others steel sharpening ourselves in ambitious desperation. He made me strive for greater polished fundamentals as to not depend on my advanced techniques.

 _Greater fundamentals, much like in basketball, refines your arsenal increasing overall effectiveness in an exponential fashion._

I see now why Neji was so uneasy around me for the longest time. Having someone single-mindedly clawing to surpass you is immensely unsettling, not to mention both of their natural talents surpasses that of my own.

 _There's only so much that I can do to fend them off and keep them beneath me._

I work myself constantly to exhaustion while I curse my natural affinity for the art of warfare. All I can do is make the best with what I've got, and since I'm deficient in natural talent compared to the juggernaut prodigies of Neji and Sasuke, all I can do is strive to train more, to innovate more, and to think more.

 _I've taken a lesson from Rock Lee to be the hardest working, even surpassing his work ethic by training smarter._

Kakashi was initially very upset because I went behind his back to the Hokage to plead my case on why I thought Sasuke should be allowed to join the task-force despite the fact that I was supposed to pick two chunin.

He forced me to do more medial tasks than anyone else of the group, however that didn't mean they were excluded entirely…

As our third member of the taskforce, I selected Jidanbō Kazuma, a rising star within the leaf well on his way to becoming a Jonin especially if war were to break out. All in all, our team was assembled and there was little Kakashi could do about it.

Today was boring as usual. Our group ' _somehow'_ always ended up being shafted with more paperwork than any other task force within the Konoha Police Force, probably because our leader was Kakashi and while he snuck off, all we could do was assist other teams with their workload.

"Did I mention before that I despise Kakashi?" I said.

Jidanbō looked up from his desk curling a lip and nodding in agreement.

"Of all the stories I'd heard of Kakashi of the Sharingan, Jonin by twelve, The youngest person to ever be promoted to Anbu captain... I'd never have imagined him being like this…"

" _Mhmm, mhmm_! It's infuriating. He doesn't have the common decency to show up on time unless we're in a full blown crisis."

"One time he told me to leave behind the food I had been cooking to deliver a package of great importance. He said he had food already packed for me and there was no need to continue prepping what I was making, So I left immediately. He had me pick up a package from a bookstore and deliver it to his own doorstep but that's not even the worst of it, the food he packed me? It was _dog food_!"

My hands shot up to my mouth trying to fight back the laughter which attempted to escape, however the challenge was too tall an order. I nearly spit across the table cackling in labored breaths.

 _I might bust a gut,_ I thought.

"Oh yeah! Laugh it up now, later when he does the same to you - see if I'll share my provisions."

The realization cut through me like a knife. Instantly I regretted my ecstasy at his misfortune knowing that karma had a way of repaying me in the most convoluted ways.

Coughing to disguise the end of my laughter, as well as making the notion to clear my throat, I looked back to the man earnestly. "My apologies and condolences."

He only grinned at my change of demeanor. _Seems he got some sick entertainment of humbling me, I'll remember this for later._

While pushing my stack of papers together, banging them onto the table to align them correctly, I noticed glossy black hair separated into two bangs peak over the corner of the hallway.

Curiously I flashed the Uchiha a questioning glance before witnessing the fire burning in his eyes. A passion I learned to recognize at a glance over the extended time we shared together.

Nodding to him in affirmation, I finished binding the papers in my hands with a clip and tossing them inside the wooden box situated on the desk.

 _Only 21 minutes until our shift would end, and I've completed my portion of our taskwork, I'm sure it will be fine to slink out of here early especially since Kakashi does it all the time. If anyone complains I'll explain that Kakashi had made it an accepted norm by his actions._

My muscles protested pushing myself out of my chair knowing that they would soon be abused again. I'd likely need to remember to ice myself tonight if I wanted to move at all tomorrow.

 _No days off._

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I knew what must be done. I knew what a gamble it was - and I knew what I stood to lose if Neji or I were caught conspiring against the clan.

 _They say Carbohydrates and Heroin are insanely addictive, but what about the sweet taste of freedom? Have we forgotten the feeling of the complete unfettered binding of responsibility or am I the only one in this damn world who's ever felt it?_

Neji wouldn't be persuaded to do something so risky easily even if he thinks he's on board with my revolution-speak.

 _To have one's whims the only force driving them forward is the greatest art of all. Your lifestyle - it's humanities greatest art. It speaks the most about oneself._

"Listen, I need more political allies outside the clan, but none of they take me serious yet. I need to learn the Summoning Jutsu in order to garner favor. If the majority of our clans political ties are through me, I will doubtlessly become our clan's image and leader."

Neji stared at me, disbelief evident by his narrowed eyes. _My reason for needing the summoning jutsu was probably in question._

"I've checked... the youngest to ever earn a contract in the summoning realm is 9 years old. I will have my name forever etched into our village's history books by simply breaking into the clan's archives, and reading a tad of information on the Summoning Jutsu. I already know the hand signs so any other information would be extremely useful." I finished.

"And you think this some 'Game' like you have nothing to lose here? You have plenty to lose! You're freedom for instance!"

"Neji - We have to play this game like we have nothing to lose or nothing will ever change… Neither of us actually have freedom, what we have is an illusion that is ill conceived and poorly crafted at that."

"Yeah? You _THINK_ you have no freedom but you will literally have _NONE_ if you're caught breaking into the clanhead's personal Archives. It's Information only the head is passed down every generation."

"You said it yourself. They arm themselves with information that we are **NEVER** allowed to have! THE FAMOUS HYUGA ART, PASSED DOWN FOR _GENERATIONS_ \- BRANDING FAMILY ALIKE AS TO 'PROTECT' US - That's nepotism at its finest-"

Neji scrunched up his lip listening to me ramble.

"-One slim margin of the family reigns supreme and oppresses all the rest with something they horde to themselves. Does that seem _right_ to you? How about _fair_? _Hmmmm?_ Is that _**FAIR**_ Neji-senpai?"

Biting into his lip, he fought back whatever he wanted to say. Defiance creeping into his eyes.

"We're already caged birds. Don't you ever want to be able to spread your wings? Information is life's greatest resource Neji, not to mention we need to get ahold of a space-time ninjutsu to be able to leave the village to prep for our _insurrection_."

"Don't call it that!-"

"-what? Insurrection?"

"-Yes! We are just replacing power within the clan, so don't call it something so vial."

"-But it's not. It's _**liberating**_. It means your _**fighting Injustice**_."

"I think we can _**agree**_ to _**disagree**_ … But you've been rehearsing this for a while to convince me... haven't you?" He said with a victorious smirk plastered on his face.

 _Why does he look like that?_

"I'll help you. Besides - What kind of senpai would I be if I didn't support my Junior? - Though I do wonder… Aren't Itomi-san and you _quite close_? He might lose his job for this right?" Neji asked.

"Did you think all my talk of _'the price of revolution'_ was a joke?"

"Hm… I see," Neji said frowning. "But even if we have some distraction, we're not likely to get the guards to go help with that. There are guards stationed there 24 hours a day, every day - it's _**that**_ important."

"I kinda have a weird idea that could get me some time with the guards away."

"-More crazy than starting an electrical fire from a stove near a grease and oil trap?!"

"Well, it's part of the reason why. We just need to diminish their importance in the eyes of their highest superior - which will be Hitoshi as soon as Hiashi-sama leaves tomorrow. If we do it and make it _DISTRACTING ENOUGH_ while getting Hitoshi-sama in-front of them when the blast goes off, He might force them to assist. Giving me some precious alone time in the archive room."

"Okay - let's for a moment _pretend_ like that plan is fully feasible. Now _**explain**_ to me how you would go about getting into the archive room? It'll be a cold day in hell before a Master Lock-pick breaks into _that room_ while under pressure. _What can you do?_ " Neji asked.

" _ **Hello?**_ _Byakugan and Dead Bone Pulse_? - I can defeat any pinwheel mechanism."

"-Okay? ...Well how are you going to get the chef in the kitchen?"

"...I'm still thinking about that one." I said.

"Well think _**hard**_."

 _I can't be expected to formulate the whole plot this early! We would have a week before our last chance to act would be. There's nothing wrong with plotting something out if the idea never gets used - right?_

 _Hmm… I wonder how many people would agree to that philosophy if it were used to scrutinized a world where Hitler only dreamed and never acted upon of his idea of 'Nazi eugenics'_

"I'll sort it out later." I responded.

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Kakashi POV)**

 **Eight Days Later...**

A cool breeze ran through my hair causing the grass to sway and dance. The headstone was exactly had it had always been. In all this time, things never changed.

The sun was retreating behind heavy clouds rolling in from over the horizon, painting the sky a grim orange.

 _The next generation is unprepared. They aren't ready to experience the futility. The failures, lies, and deceit which are inescapable truths. My only job is to get them ready, more ready than I was, then maybe…_

My cool continence couldn't hide my fears from me. The fear that I could never hack it as a sensei, the fear that my comrades would die at my side or by my own hands once again in a cruel repeat of inescapable history.

My mind roamed, flowing through the many memories of everyone who imparted something important to me before their untimely departure.

 _Obito's trust that his sharingan would be put to good use defending his love only to be turned into the very weapon that took her life. Sensei's trust that as his personal Anbu, as his right hand man, that I could protect his ideals and the village, but I couldn't even protect him._

 _What good am I? I am useless as a protector. I'm unfit to be a sensei - so why can't Lord Third see it? Why does he keep insisting that I become a mentor?_

The black headed Uchiha jumped to the forefront of my mind.

 _While it's true that now I'm the only proficient sharingan user left of the leaf, and that I had plenty of wisdom and battle experience to impart to Sasuke, that wasn't the Sandaime's intention from the start. It was the Hyuga prodigy._

The ethereal white headed wolf in sheep's clothing. A small girl with ungodly intellect and unsurpassed perseverance for self mastery.

 _She was a terrifying outlier. In normal cases where a potential security risk was so young, we could wait and see how their nature would bloom before taking action, however this was not possible in her case. Her obsession created a timeline where we needed answers sooner rather than later. To evaluate her before she could possibly become the threat that the Third feared - That was my_ _ **real**_ _mission. Before she could wander down a path that was unrecoverable. Before she can become another monster the village hadn't seen since Orochimaru, He trusted me. His faith is misplaced, but all I can do is accept the responsibility and perform to the best of my ability._

Standing in front of the memorial stone inscribed with numerous names of people I had once called comrades and friends alike, I lamented the things I couldn't do. The things that were written in stone that could never be changed… because perhaps if I lemented enough about the past, the future might have a hope.

I wondered briefly what would have happened if I had never seen the Hyuga prodigy slip into the medical library inside the hospital during my role of Anbu promotional exams. If my curiosity hadn't left me trailing her and discovering her scent on the folder tucked away in the archives, and if I hadn't reported my findings to Lord Third.

 _Would she have been better off or worse off? Was it all a coincidence that she happened to stumble upon Orochimaru's research papers or was it her intention?_

Despite the years since the occurrence, we still have many more questions than answers. And I wasn't quite sure what the best way to go about answering them was.

 _I am a failure, as I have always been._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Watari-Sensei POV)**

My eyes glazed over the papers comparing them to the answer key I had made in advance. My hand marked each incorrect answer with practiced and repetitious indifference.

 _Incorrect… seems they got the correct answer originally, shame they changed it._

 _Correct… Correct… Incorrect._

Something broke my concentration, an odd feeling. Looking back over the paper, I noticed several answers which had started to be marked with the correct answers was instead replaced with incorrect answers.

-Not only that, but material that was overlapping in nature that was completed correct was in other areas plagued with conceptual inconsistencies.

Looking back on the paper, It became obvious the kid was tanking his score on purpose.

I retrieved my notebook from inside the confines of my desk drawer, opening to lesson plans and my own individual student goals I mapped out in advance.

 _Iwaizumi Nara: He is a withdrawn pupil with the potential to be one of the most successful students in class, however, chooses not to apply himself and coasts on his subpar grades. It appears his interests lie elsewhere, so I must inspire him to take lessons more seriously._

 _With this new information, It seems my initial assessment was off a bit. It's not that he coasts on subpar grades, he intentionally misses questions and feigns ignorance. Why?_

Looking up from my desk, I saw the child in question tucked away in the corner of the classroom engrossed in his book while the other students socialized quietly.

 _At first, I believed his lack of competition in drills was due to not wanting to exert himself… But even that could be explained by his desire to appear ordinary. Just how high could his potential ceiling be if he became passionate? If he was willing to compete for class ranks?_

I waited until the end of class, several of the kids running out of the room in a hurry, Iwa-chan still seated in his desk lost in his book. I approached the boy to no reaction. Tapping him on the shoulder, he snapped to reality glancing over at me with an annoyed expression, but quickly fading into apathy.

Placing a bookmark in the text and closing it with a thud, he gave me his undivided focus.

"Watari-Sensei?"

I placed his latest graded test I had finished during the wait before him - a 73.

"Is this really your best?"

His brows pulled together in frustration, his arms moving in front of him with a bit of a turn to create separation between us.

"Not every student is destined for greatness Sensei… I'm sorry I fell short of your expectations." He finally spoke after a brief pause.

"You didn't fall short of _YOUR_ expectations though, did you?" I said pulling out several more papers.

 _[71 - 77 - 78 - 69]_

His face flushed pink and his temple bulged.

"... I expected to get about those kind of grades." He admitted.

 _Progress. But why does he expect it of himself. Why is he limiting himself?_

"Why? Is it because you can't do better? Or is it simply that you don't _want_ to do better?"

"I CAN'T - OKAY? I'll never be like _them_ and I've accepted that. I know my limits and I won't waste my time fighting the useless battle against the current just to drown."

"... _Them?_ Who are you comparing yourself to?" I asked earnestly.

"Who else? The _**PRODIGIES**_ **!** \- Mina - Neji - Sasuke! - They were born always to be the best. Nothing I do can bridge the gap! **Right?** I'm not crazy, there's literally nothing." He said huffing and panting.

I stood silent, scanning over the boy for some time before he got a grasp on his emotions.

"So what you're saying is that you already know your precise limitations - correct? Even though your technique, body, and mind all have room to grow you can look at me and honestly tell me you know your maximum potential?"

"Well… No of course that's not what im saying. I'm saying that I know my maximum potential is beneath theirs."

"If you believe that someone's inborn talent is greater than yours, then your right." I said causing the boy to shoot me a confused look. One like I shattered his expectations. "-It will be impossible to overcome them with your effort and creativity… If you believe it. That act of believing that you are innately inferior to anyone is a trap, one that will cause you to spiral into hardships and ineptitude."

"You're honestly trying to stand there and tell me you think I could catch up to those _prodigies_?! Have you gone senile? How? -How could I possibly do that?" He demanded.

"Instead of comparing yourself to others, work only on improving yourself. Push all of the things you can't control out of your mind entirely. When you finally reach your ceiling that is when you can determine if someone else's talent is superior to your own and not a moment sooner. -Do you understand?"

He still looked to be on the fence about the subject, struggling internally with the knowledge I imparted to him. His frustration eventually disappeared leaving behind only desperation.

"You… You think that maybe… Maybe I could be better than them? Or even at the same level?" He asked sheepishly.

"I believe that there is always a chance while you remain hopeful. Talent is something to nurture and wisdom is something to hone. Remember that young Nara and you will go far in this world."

A slight smile broke onto his face, and he gave me an energetic and hopeful nod, his eyes shining with youthful exuberance for the first time since I had met the boy.

 _I did something wonderful today. I gave a child hope. What more could I ask for as a teacher?_

"Thanks Watari-Sensei! I can't promise I'll change overnight, but you've given me a lot to think about."

"Good to hear. Don't be afraid to fail, in fact fail spectacularly. You learn more from your failures than you ever will with your successes."

"Yes Sensei!" He said.

 _A Nara with limitless drive would be fearsome indeed. The village needs more passionate youth._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

Neji and I deviously smiled at the plans we had drawn up.

 _They weren't perfect, and there was certainly room for error, so execution would need to be flawless, but as far as perfectionist natures go, I didn't know anyone more qualified than Neji to assist me. Sure - Sasuke favored strength and precision, yes, but Neji was more attentive to fine details and earnestly specific._

 _There was no greater person to put my trust in. I can't believe I didn't realize it before... but the inability to trust is more painful than the fear of betrayal. I feel happier… even if I know the impending tragedy that eventually awaits me - My entrance to the Akatsuki._

"Perfect - That about covers everything, right?"

Neji nodded in agreement, folding up the plans then handing them back.

"I already got our transceivers. All that's left is to meet up under the Great Gale Gazebo at 9:45pm. I'll cya then."

"Salutations."

 _Who actually says that? Whatever… I've got my bodyguard duty to uphold which is of greater importance since Hiashi is out of the hidden leaf at the moment._

Departing with a wave, I turned heading towards Hinata's personal chambers.

Arriving a few minutes early as usual, I followed protocol issuing a knock at the door.

"Come in!" A feminine voice called out from behind the door.

Acknowledging her permission, I shoved the door open without issue.

Candles were lit in the room sending flickering light unsteadily throughout the area and giving off a splendid aroma.

"It smells like... lemon and lavender?" I asked sniffing the air.

"The candles are called 'Citrus Bloom' but I apologize, I don't know the specifics." She replied.

Approaching closer, I opened my arms expectantly.

 _My favorite part of body guard duty. Our moments of intimacy._

A wide grin appeared on her face, her legs kicking into the ground as she sped toward me wrapping me up to which I needed to reciprocate. Her snug warmth warranted my affection.

Over the past six months she had grown more self-assured and confident. **Bold**. - A word I hadn't imagined needing to use describe her but now aptly fit her.

Her arms wrapped around my waist was my secret oasis. My vacation from the grim reality that was _EVERYTHING ELS_ E.

"I was waiting for you." She said excitedly.

The essence of heat burned within every cell of my body. I radiated soothing warmth chasing away the chills of inadequacy, indecision, and doubt. Everything faded away into the background when we were alone together.

"How have you been?" I asked expecting a real answer.

"Good! I'm finally starting to understand attacking plant feet now thanks to you. Hiashi even complimented me before he left! Thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure. I love watching you get better, it inspires me."

She blushed at my words releasing me from our long hold. Her hands retreated behind her, and as she spun around, I noticed they were interlocked at the fingers. A nervous habit she had rarely shown lately alerting me to something on her mind.

"What's up? Something on your mind?" I asked.

"Nothing gets by you, does it?" She said cheekily.

"Not if I can help it."

She walked over towards her dresser, quickly running her hands over a rugged and worn red scarf.

"So… What are you thinking about?" I asked approaching closer.

"Well… I trust you more than anyone else…"

"Yes? Did you think that was some secret Hinata?" I asked playfully.

"Well...no. _**Phew**_ okay here it goes - I want to have my first kiss - _with you_."

My heart drummed in my chest. _Did - Did I hear that right?_

"You want to kiss _me_?" I asked stupefied

"Well ya'know… No one else is closer and i figured… I want to try it."

 _She just came out and spoke her mind like that? She really has changed._

"Are you sure I'm worthy of a princess's first?" I teased poking her nose.

"Of course." she replied without deliberating - crinkling her nose cutely in the process.

 _Well… She knows what she wants. And I mean I know what I want... I just didn't think it would happen so fast!_

Taking a step closer and reaching for her hand I said:

"Lady Hinata, it would be my honor."

"Stop that. This is an experience between friends. Rank and honor have nothing to do with it. I want to experience what a kiss is like, and I want my first to be with you-"

I silenced her with a finger over her mouth, staring into her sparkling and expectant whitewashed eyes.

 _A girl who knows what she wants. What a beautiful rarity._

Sliding my hand down the slope of her immaculately pale face until arriving at her chin, I clenched her free-hanging hand by her side side within my clutches, squeezing it gently to which she reciprocated.

 _It was moist with expectation, she was more nervous than she was letting on._

We were roughly the same height, her eyes longingly searching within me.

 _She has to see it, she can tell how much I care about her. She knows and accepts it!_

I couldn't wait any longer, every fiber of my being spurred me to action. I leaned in closer rotating my head one way, However Hinata didn't rotate whatsoever, so as compensation I tilted further avoiding awkwardly killing the moment by smashing our noses together.

I closed my eyes after her own pressed together in delirium.

Our lips met.

Shockwaves of ecstasy supercharged my nervous system. Time crept to a standstill - like the moment was excluded by the universal laws that governed reality. The pleasant fragrance of citrus bloom caressing my nostrils.

Her warm lips already puckered together causing suction between our lips.

 _We are stuck together!_

I pulled away first forcing her eyes to flick open - but I wasn't done.

I surprised her by grabbing her neck instantly coming back for round two, this time a _smidge_ higher. Our lips didn't meet symmetrically.

I used my bottom lip to nudge in between both of hers to sneak my mouth over her upper lip sucking on it.

She squeezed my hand hard - _probably of shoc_ k - but I didn't take it as a sign to stop, instead I saw it as positive reinforcement.

My hand pulled down her neck tracing my fingertips along as I explored down causing her to quiver.

She pushed my hand holding hers into my stomach forcing our lips apart, a strand of saliva connected our retreating lips until it inevitably broke.

She had the same goofy expression on her face that she reserved for when we were alone. I loved it.

"Woah… That-that was… _erm_ \- Incredible. How? -Where did you learn that?"

"It was all instinct, I wanted you to enjoy your first, so I wanted to do everything I could to make it the best."

While being part true, the _'all instinct'_ part was a blatant lie. I had my fair share of experience even if it weren't in this body. Hinata was my first in this world, and I wouldn't trade that away for anyone else.

"I see… _All instinct?_ " she asked softly.

Her hands traveled up to her lips, touching them quickly and flashing me confused glances.

"What's wrong?"

"Well… This is all just so new to me I-"

" _Shhh - shhh- shhh_. It's fine. Don't worry about it. It'll be _our_ little secret." I said with a wink.

The confusion transformed into joyful acceptance at my words, nodding vigorously. (which looked comical as red as she was.)

"It'll be _our_ little secret" She repeated back in hushed agreement with a grin still nodding. "Thank you."

 _That was AWESOME! I can't wait to do it again!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The Katydids' chirps filled the moist night air. The night was bleak with only a sliver of the moon's crescent visible. The leaves around us rustled, but the wind shooting through the trappings ripped past in gusts drowning out everything else for moments at a time.

The night was wonderful. The breeze felt amazing on my skin cooling my hot excitement.

Hinata's kiss made this night very special, and with such high spirits - failure isn't possible.

My mind kept recalling the sensation of _her_ soft lips. I felt fluttery and joyous never allowing myself the chance for negativity to creep back into my mind.

 _Everything will go to plan, and I'll be able to make Hinata mine_.

The Great Gale Gazebo was a work of art for both its beauty and architectural functionality. Neji stared expectantly at me from his seat as I approached closer, a leg propped up supported by his knee.

Tonight we needed to be stealthy as rats. And much like rats, exploit the procedural loopholes of human civilization. Become conniving enough to outlive and outlast my competition.

"Took you long enough."

"Starting to get cold feet? Nervous maybe?" I teased.

Shooting me an annoyed glance, he pushed himself to his feet.

"Do we have time for such jokes?"

 _Man, He was all business right now. I could tell his focus was honed and undivided - Perfect._

"Here," I said reaching into my pocket retrieving an encrypted radio transmitter then holding it out within my hand. "Frequency A7 in case it somehow gets swapped, but it should already be preset."

"Of course…" He mumbled accepting the tool and sticking it into his ear.

Quickly I followed suit, jamming mine inside my ear canal then flicking the power button _on_.

"Testing-Testing-A1," I said establishing myself as _Alpha_ knowing it would piss him off. I loided over him and gave him a mean spirited thumbs up.

"Testing-Testing-B2," Beta boy Neji said through the soft buzz of the speaker mildly displeased.

"C3 - Sedative confirmed consumed 40 minutes ago - Currently In position - Holding," I heard over the device.

"C4 - Awaiting confirmation of initialization."

 _40 minutes huh? Gives us about 20 to 50 more minutes before the target dozes off._

"B2,C3,C4 - Loud and clear. Any problems?" I asked.

"..."

 _Seems the channel is working as it should and both of my clones are ready for us._

Shielding the device with a hand, I turned to Neji.

"You ready?" I asked with a smile.

Instead of responding, he only returned my smile - his grin as wicked as I had ever seen it, a spark alighting within his mischievous eyes.

He tilted his head upwards marveling at our environment before sighing deeply and giving me the same thumbs up I showed him.

 _He is becoming more and more like me by the day. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. I guess after this we'll find out._

" **Operation: Shock and Awe - Start!** A1 granting C4 permission to continue." I said.

"Rodger - C4"

Guilt started rising like bile into my throat, however, nothing would stop me.

 _Stagnation spells my death. I must always move forward. Like a missile I will unapologetically reach my destination. A shark needs to keep moving forward in order to push water through its gills to respire, the same simplistic and primal instinct drives me forward in my endeavors to self persevere._

Neji and I went off on our separate ways, each contributing to the plan differently but of one mind.

I arrived at my spot, not far enough to not be seen if the guards Byakugan were active, but I had my reason for being here in the first place. I managed through knowledge to be accepted as a primary handler responsible for greenhouse care for our clans medicinal plants.

Orcas - better known as Killer Whales - Are a type of dolphin that requires it to outwit and outmaneuver its prey rather than the sole brutality of sharks.

 _I need to be as wise and resourceful as I am savage. My willingness to sacrifice is unmatched. Even my humanity is worthless before a divine entity._

I purposely neglected the plants in the morning refusing to water them. The heat during the day was too much to water them after the sun was beating down on them so heavily, they would surely have shriveled up. I neglected them on purpose to give myself an excuse to be here in this instant. No one would argue that care of these medicinal herbs didn't take precedence even over that of a simple kitchen fire.

"C4 - Sabotage operation complete. Locating decoy."

"B2 - Awaiting the signal."

"A1 - Mission parameters are within expectations."

Sticking the meter into the large reservoir, I waited for some time before pulling it back out, the meter reading 6.7 PH.

 _Ideal watering conditions are between 6.2-6.3PH for these plants, so I needed to add PH down, a gardening safe acid, probably 75 milliliters at least with how high the tank currently is._

After adding the solution and stirring the reservoir, I grabbed the hose and began watering the plants while keeping my eye on the two guards lazily stationed outside the clanhead's personal archive.

I could tell that the one guard was becoming drowsy by how he rested the weight of his head on his palm - occasionally leaning forward catching himself before he could fall out of his seat.

I noticed the topsoil of several of the pots had 'eroded' away thanks to watering, so I retrieved a soil bag. Scooping out some with a cup, I filled the plants I had doused in water that needed the additional soil before again returning to watering the plants.

The drowsy guard was now propped up against the wall sound asleep. The other guard having noticed was now taking responsibility for watching in his stead. _Not uncommon as witnessed by our reconasainse this past week._

"A1 - Subject is out, C4, are we in position to blow the whistle?"

"Negative - Decoy has yet to contact the chef. He made a stop along the way. - C4"

 _I didn't know how I truly felt about calling Tokuma a decoy, but having him contact the Itomi himself would alleviate a bit of suspicion off myself in case anything unexpected happened._

Minutes churned by. My restlessness made me want to just jump into action, but my thin veneer of patience held strong enough to dissuade me.

"C4 reporting - Decoy has made contact. Chef is on the move."

"A1 requesting B2 to blow the whistle."

 _Heh. Such a humorous cryptic phrase._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Neji POV)**

"A1 requesting B2 to blow the whistle." The speaker chirped.

With speed and grace, I arrived at the door solidly knocking at it.

No voice called out or responded to the knock, instead the door swung open, an elderly man with long grey stringy hair peered out.

"What is it?" He gruffly demanded.

"One of the guards stationed at Haishi's personal archives is fast asleep on duty. I see this as unabashedly incompetant and wished to inform you - sir."

The man let out a tired and annoyed sigh. I could tell just by how he carried his body that he was going to make the trip over to rebuke them. _Perfect._

"Thank you Neji-kun. Your vigilance has not gone unnoticed." He said reaching for an ugly wool sweater he pulled on haphazardly to compliment his sweatpants.

"Just trying to maintain order Hitoshima-sama."

"Alright." He said stepping out from the door and closing it behind him locking the room. "You can run along now, I'll go give those idiots an earful."

"Yes Hitoshima-sama."

I turned to leave quickly but before I could leave the same voice spoke up behind me:

"Wait… Would you like to accompany me?"

 _This was not part of the initial plan, but I suppose I could keep a closer eye on him… No, In actuality that was not phrased as a question. He expects me to accompany him - doesn't he?_

"If it would please you, sir."

A weezy weak chuckle escaped the man's lungs.

"I figured you'd enjoy watching the men get disciplined, _or am I wrong_?"

I need to stay in his good graces. Knowing his personality, there was only one thing I could say:

"I would gain no greater pleasure." My jaw clenched finishing those words.

"Heeh, come along then." He said waving a hand.

The man was light and decrepit, however each of his steps hit the floor with weight and confidence.

 _This old man revels in having ammunition to fire off at underlings. He truly becomes overjoyed when situations that piss him off presented themselves. He thrives in conflict. What a despicable creature._

The floorboards creaked underfoot as we made our way to the destination. I tailed by a few strides the entire way purposely.

We exited our building heading out into the night along a cobblestone pathway. On our path was another clan elder walking along with a cane who called and waved at Hitoshima.

 _Oh no…_

Hitoshima stopped and began talking to the man. Their conversation skipping from place to place reliving their treasured memories together from the 2nd great ninja war.

Leaning away from them and bringing my hand to my mouth, I funneled my voice towards my ear.

"B2 reporting - Grumps is distracted. What is our situation?"

"C4 - The chef is in the hole - could be any second now."

" **NO, NO, NO! I WON'T HAVE IT!** " One of Mina's doppelgangers unleashed into my ear.

 _Ouch!_

"A1 requesting C3 to run interference."

"Interference? What do you want me to do? Improvise?"

" **Whatever it takes, go break them apart now C3!"** she cried into the mic.

I held my breath not knowing what to expect of the situation. _How would she handle this?_

Within moments, the reminiscing men both turned their attention to the side.

A bush shook violently, and out popped a small dog that playfully barked.

Recognizing the dog, the two men looked back to each other starting to _shoot the breeze_ as they say.

The dog stopped and brushed up against the elders leg who supported himself on his cane.

"Oh, you like my leg huh?" The old man stated with an affectionate tone.

The dog instantly laid down on its side, spraying the elders leg with urine as it made whimpering noises.

"Stop it damnit!" The old man cried trying to step back out of the stream.

The dog rolled over resituating itself so that the stream still sprayed the old man now hitting him in the chest.

Dumbfounded, I watched in silent amusement at this show of _Improvisatio_ n.

" **Scat! Git!"** The old man shrieked while slinging around his cane at the dog striking it once in the side.

"Mhmppp mhmmmppp!" The dog squeaked rolling to its legs and running off.

"Damn dog!" The old man muttered beneath his breath.

A joyous airy laughter broke out from Hitoshima who was now bent over and slapping his knee. He shamelessly wiped a tear from his eye as his chortles of laughter died down.

"Animals have never liked you much, have they Jihnrai?"

"You'd think after 80 years they'd give me a break!" He said wiggling his now soaked pants leg. "Urgggh..."

"Well on that note, I'll let you go clean up, I actually have something that needs to be done. Cya ol' pal."

With a look of disgust, the old man limped away very stiffly, likely trying to avoid his wet clothes from touching and sticking to his skin.

Hitoshima turned around still faintly chuckling and shaking his head reveling in the man's misfortune.

"Alright, back on track." He said with an eager grin.

I followed him as we both stepped through the door of our destined building.

Rounding the last corner of the hallway, I noticed the one awake guard straighten up his back and nudge the asleep man leaning against the wall in his chair.

The awaken guard was wearing a bandanna hiding what I knew to be his bald head. The other man had a ponytail braided like a female for whatever reason.

"Hitoshima-sama!" He called out nervously.

The old decrepit man kept walking in silence. He projected a ghastly malefic aura and I found myself glad that I was behind the man and not between him and his focus.

He kept getting closer… and closer… and finally he was within range to touch the pony-tailed incompetent.

Leaning over as close as he could to the mans face that was still fast asleep I saw the elders eyes bulge and become bloodshot. Yanking the chair from beneath the man he simultaneously unleashed his extended hand like a whip that struck the incompetent in the face with a loud acoustic clap.

 _Yikes._

 _The man tumbled to the floor, the force of the slap causing his head to smack into the wall behind him waking him up._

" **Is this a joke to you?!"**

The slapped man tore his eyes open in fear and confusion as he rotated his head side to side from the ground before pushing himself to his feet.

"Err…" The man responded ignorantly.

" **I'll teach you the consequences of incompetence!"**

 _ **SLAAAAAP.**_

"Sir!" The other man interjected startled.

The ferocious gaze fell upon the bald man momentarily. The guard who had not fallen asleep - froze within that ungodly gaze unable to speak up anymore.

"You! _You_ perpetuated this! You could have woken him up and instead did nothing. I'll deal with you later…"

The bald man sporting the bandanna audibly squeaked before a quick grin flashed across the elders face before passing, replaced by his typical scowl.

The other man prostrated himself before the clan's 2nd in command.

"I'm terribly sorry. I don't know what got into me Hitoshima-sama. Please have mercy."

 _What got into you? A sedative of course. I don't sympathize with you at all though. Your shoddy work ethic has been lacking for some time, this was just insurance that you would be caught today._

" **Mercy?! You can't even keep your damn eyes open and you plead for mercy?!"** He spat.

A dim flash of light leaked through the window being followed by a harrowing _**BOOOOOM**_.

"C4 - Kitchen is alight." my ear buzzed.

"What was that?" Hitoshima asked making his way to the window.

" **Fire! Fire!"** a distant voice yelled.

The elder spun around with a death glare. "You two idiots-" Pointing out the window."-Out there and _make_ yourself useful!"

The two men frozen in place looking to each other in inquiry.

 _What are they doing?_

" **Did I stutter?! NOW! OUT YOU MORONS!"**

The two men bolted off through the hallway ahead of us in what I assumed to be a sprint.

"-And you!" He said looking to me. "Help me direct these idiots so we can deal with this problem. You can help me can't you?"

"Yessir!"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

A bright light flashed like a camera. The power transformer was ablaze, one of the electric cords snapped and was waving around shooting sparks wildly.

The buildings circuit breaker must have exploded alongside the stoves gas tank instead of just short-circuiting.

"C4 - Kitchen is alight."

 _Yeah it is, and the whole transformer. This is a bigger distraction than I had anticipated… Itomi is fine, right?_

"A1 requesting status of the chef."

My heart lurched waiting for a response, but it would be wonderful to get a little peace of mind.

"Chef is alive but injured. Heavy burns and shrapnel damage."

My stomach sank. The world spun around me.

 _...Of-course….. A necessary casualty for revolution…_

 _The hall of the clanhead's archive is empty. There isn't time for sulking, so_ _ **get your head in the game!**_

Rushing to reach the archive door, I slid across the polished wood grabbing onto the wall's paneling to change directions in a scamper.

 _ **Hurry! I have to make this worth it! I HAVE TO.**_

Rounding the last turn, I charged to the locking mechanism.

With the help of the Byakugan I could see inside the complicated lock, however the wall was white and nothing behind it could be made out.

The walls of this room were specially made to repel the intrusive vision of the Byakugan like lead shields off x-ray penetration.

The lock had 4 different sets of pinwheel's all positioned 90 degrees apart from each other. Each set had 9 varying pinwheel locations making it impossible to pick the lock with conventional methods.

Resting my palm on the entrance of the locks opening, I pushed calcified bone through it, branching it apart to each of the 36 pinwheels pushing it into its designated place carefully and turning my wrist with a click.

I slid the door open enough to squeeze through shutting it behind me with another click.

There were MANY shelves - so many in fact that finding what I was looking for became a bit daunting.

I noticed the top of each shelf had a designated tag.

"Scrolls...scrolls...history...history...traditions...bylaws...jutsu!"

 _Yes!_

My finger pulled along the spine of each handwritten record to reveal the title of each work that for whatever reason wasn't written on the spine for ease of access.

"Earth style: defensive Jutsu variation instructional… Uchiha Fireball analysis… water dragon hand signs… Kazekage's Magnet style analysis… Yamanaka's Mind destruction analysis… Raikage's Lighting style: chakra mode analysis … Fire release: Heavenly— Wait a second…"

Flipping back to the document before the last one: "Raikage's Lighting style: chakra mode analysis."

 _Hmm… I'll take this with me._

Shoving it into a bag strapped to my back, I turned my attention back to the multitude of records I still hadn't sifted through.

One by one with systematic haste I checked each record, notebook, and document.

"Grumps is returning to Hiashi's archives! Get out!"

 _ **Nooo! I can't quit this deep!**_

" **B2! Stall him anyway you can! PLEASE!"** I shouted.

"Negative, he is in a rush to retrieve something for the fire. _**Get out! I repeat get out!**_ " Neji whispered through the speaker.

Tearing things from the shelf now dangerously rushed I scanned over the beginning of anything I could find.

"Fire sty— Yang Relea— Chakra reshaping— Lava Sty—"

" _ **He's close! Bail! BAIL-BAIL-BAIL!"**_ Neji pleaded.

"C4 in position for substitution!"

" **Water—Hiruzen's—Flying Thu—Summoning—"**

Without looking at the rest of the title, I stuck the document under my arm.

The door lock clicked from behind my back.

" _Substitution - Release!"_ I whispered.

"The door is un— _ **He's entering**_ — _**are you out?!**_ " Neji barked in my ear.

"Chill! I'm out— I'm out."

"Ugh - You about gave me a panic attack. You didn't need to call it that close! You can still go back after he leaves as long as he didn't notice you were in there."

I looked down at the document in my hand. The paper shook in my twitching hold - my Adrenalin riddled body couldn't remain still any longer.

 _Summoning Jutsu Instructional._

-I couldn't believe my eyes-

" **Mission Success!** " I exclaimed.

"— **Really?!** " Neji asked excitedly.

"— _ **Really!**_ "

"—What a close call, You have veins of ice."

"The pressure never gets to me!" I happily lied.

 _Screw all other comparisons. I am a mighty figure of only myth and legend. I'm a dragon! Fuck the stories of Ryu Raitofangu! Long may they sing the legacy of Mina Hyuga - The living incarnation of Izuna. A re-shaper of worlds and slayer of 'gods.'_

My fingers and legs still twitched from my abnormal state of panic.

 _I was right, tonight was the perfect night to unhatch this scheme. Hinata's lips and this Summoning Jutsu instructional are my trophies. What more could I ask for from a night?_

Tossing the document into the bag I swung off my back, I held it firmly in my grasp imagining a dark void swallowing the bag — Transferring chakra into the void in exchange.

 _ **Poof.**_

The bag disappeared from my grasp.

 _Everything went perfectly..._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Authors Notes:** Give me that Feedback! I need to know how I'm doing :) - BTW My favorite heist movie of all time is probably _**Ocean's Eleven**_ which is in part the inspiration I used for this chapter.

 **Reviewer Question: - Guess what Summoning Familiar Mina will form a contract with?**

…

 _ ****SPECIAL THANKS and COMMENTS**_ **to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!****

 _ **-The Jingo**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thank you for voicing your support for the chapter. Mean's a lot as a fellow writer._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Irina Akashira**_ **-** _ **"**_ _The seal merged with her chakra network, allowing it to be used at any time. This is included within the stasis of Time Stop that Being-X has used several times to communicate with her while everyone around her were oblivious._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Guest**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I'm sure the man proposed the condition to teach the jutsu as ghoulish overkill - Never believing that the great Hyuga clan would succumb to servantry of a lowly sand genin. But the fact he actually taught her was probably steeped in pride. Sure it's not smart, but in reality the Sand and Leaf were on paper allies if not then in the process of an alliance. It's not too ridiculous_ **In my Opinion** _."_

 _ **-totoro27110**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Hope you enjoyed my work inspired by Youjo Senki. LMK what you think._ _ **"**_

 _ **-LazyWriterBG**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Thanks for your support. I allured to the summoning animal this chapter but like I said in a comment before, it's hidden with several red herrings. Your message was the final straw to break the camel's back when it came down to deciding to actually release my first draft of my Yu-gi-oh Fanfic. So Thanks Again._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Ur fckng judge**_ **-** _ **"**_ _Glad to see you care about my work so much that you wrote a comment on my New Yu-gi-oh GX fanfic. Seems like your jealousy is manifesting as butt-hurt because of my success and your evident ineptitude. Hope you the best pal. ^.^_ _ **"**_

 _ **-hmmm**_ **-** _ **"**_ _The story was never intended to keep Mina powerless in the presence of Being-X the whole story. Mina will eventually be able to fend for herself, and it's not too far off._ _ **"**_

 _ **-Lazarith**_ **-** _ **"**_ _I share your excitement at the prospect of the Tenseigan and the subject matter will certainly come up in the future. However it'll take time to find out enough information to have any real clue at manifesting the Tenseigan._ _ **"**_


	32. Chapter 28

**Article 32 - Chapter 28 - A Recipe for Disaster**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 _ **Notes:**_ _Sorry this took a while, I avoided completing it for some time worried that it would never be good enough, but there's only so long you can procrastinate, so here's the next chapter._

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

 _Screw all other comparisons. I am a mighty figure of only myth and legend. I'm a dragon! Fuck the stories of Ryu Raitofangu! Long may they sing the legacy of Mina Hyuga - The living incarnation of Izuna. A reshaper of worlds and slayer of 'gods.'_

My fingers and legs still twitched from my abnormal state of panic.

 _I was right, tonight was the perfect night to unhatch this scheme. Hinata's lips and this Summoning Jutsu instructional are my trophies. What more could I ask for from a night?_

Tossing the document into the bag I swung off my back, I held it firmly in my grasp imagining a dark void swallowing the bag — Transferring chakra into the void in exchange.

 _ **Poof.**_

The bag disappeared from my grasp.

 _Everything went perfectly..._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 28 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

" **Do you believe you've actually hidden anything from me?"**

My jaw set. My teeth grinded in maddened aggression.

"Show yourself!" I screamed. "Show Yourself and I promise to repay you for your last _MIRACLE_."

"What happened? Are you alright?!" My earpiece chirped.

 _Not Now Neji!_ _ **FUCK! I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS 'THING' RUINING EVERYTHING. I WILL NOT.**_

Turning my earpiece off, I surveyed my environment.

 _Empty enough..._

" **Everything has gone according to my plan. It is larger than you, larger than this entire world. I must work in mysterious ways to impart a fraction of my divine knowledge."**

"Humanity doesn't need your charity. It's long been time for you to retire. Did you come to get your severance package?"

" **Ah~ As nothing but a mortal, I can't comprehend how you imagine your futile resistance is going to change anything. You will accept your role, gracefully or otherwise."**

"Yeah? -And what role is that?"

" **You will become a beacon of hope. You will sing praises unto my name and thy works shall be in remembrance of your creator."**

"-What use is that to a God?"

" **It is my sole purpose. What purpose is there to create if nothing appreciates? My will be done - sing praise young lamb, repent your transgressions and spread the word."**

My necklace around my neck tugged along it's chain, feeling like the sapphire was being pulled away from me. The gemstone erupted into blue light rapturing into pockets of glistening translucence.

"What have you done?!"

" **I had long since blessed this object with my holy power. You may call upon my name ~ GOD ~whenever you are in peril energy will be provided to the stone. The more faith that will awaken, the greater that power will become."**

 _It's been defiled! That demon has tainted Ayasha's last momento._

"NOOOO! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! REVERT IT RIGHT NOW! UNCURSE THIS ITEM. YOUR CORRUPTION IS UNWELCOMED! WHY!?" I screamed seething in a bottomless rage.

" **It is often the lessons we are not ready for that are our most necessary."**

"Don't give me that bullshit! … I will spend... the rest of my life... in pursuit of your destruction. I only hope it comes by my hands." My fingers curling into fists. "I want you to know who your dealing with. You **WILL** fear me. You **WILL** cower - And you **WILL DIE**."

There was no response. None at all. The drowning silence enveloped everything for a long moment.

 _A deafening lack of acknowledgement. He still doesn't see me as a threat._

" **-I think it is** _ **YOU**_ **who does not understand who they are dealing with. Are you** _ **mad**_ **? You will never win. Written into existence at a whim and you expect to challenge a God?** _ **I will fear YOU?! I will die?!"**_

" _ **...No**_ **\- I'll let you in on a little secret. Your history has already** _ **been written**_ **. Your birth, life, and death - Yes! - I see it all - all at once in fact. I am everything that matters, and control everything that will ever be. Your life? It will be miserable... full of hardships, with you having learned nothing useful. Such is the difference between** _ **Man**_ **and** _ **GOD**_ **."**

Elation rose inside me. A true and calming peace.

 _How could I not be happy? I was ecstatic at my discovery that Being-X had a true weakness. Not simply theorized anymore._

" **In the end, when I've finally stripped you of everything, you will die having already outlived your usefulness and became my mouthpiece. You will sing my praises and faith will grow due to your words. It must be hard - realizing that all the effort you've ever spent is meaningless. That in the end, you still become my pawn. That there is nothing you can do to stop it. After all -** **I AM INEVITABLE**."

 _I was right! Being-X does have a weakness. He has defined it well to me. His Hubris will be his downfall. I've arrived at an answer. I can't act on it yet, but I know what must be done!_

"I think we are well past words - _Demon_ \- Be gone."

" **..Your death will be unmatched agony for your insolence."**

"Yes, yes. Just the way you have always seen it yes? Time is linear and you know it all correct? You've established how _insurmountable_ you are and your _'all knowing'_ nature quite well haven't you? You are... Excused."

" **Your disrespect will be your end."**

 _It was comical how hard it was trying to establish itself as above me. Why would a "GOD" need to do something so petty?_

My shoe dug into the earth.

"Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you." I said.

" **I'm going to enjoy** _ **breaking**_ **you. I was just setting the tone all this time - but now I will show you my unbridled wrath."**

"Words are empty _False-God_. Show me."

I was being crushed. An unimaginable weight bearing down on me. Greater than the weight of the world.

 _My enemy will now come at me in earnest? Perfect - I'm ready._

A surge of electric current shot into the air. It was met halfway between the darkening clouds with a bolt of light stretching to complete it.

Lightning flashed in the sky, the ground trembling beneath my feet.

 _ **BOOM.**_

 _With Lightning properties I can accelerate my nervous system to the brink of insanity. The Raikage's notable technique will be a great asset to myself, but my Sharingan puppet will be the key to holding Being-X at bay in the meantime. He can't kill me yet. He hasn't stroked his own ego enough. By the time he finds out what I can do, it'll be too late…_

"Mina - I came immediately! Are you okay?" Neji asked in genuine concern.

The tension drained from my body.

 _It was all a joke. This life was a joke._

" **HAHAHAHAHAHA!"** I couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Neji - Fighting against destiny is a worthy goal indeed."

"What?! ...Who did you end up running into?" He asked, peering at me oddly.

"Fate. I looked fate in the face and my spit tarnished its face. I imagine it's pretty upset…"

He kept staring at me with even more questioning eyes.

 _If I didn't know him any better I'd almost say he was afraid of me, but that couldn't be right._

"You have time for riddles now? It's about to storm and the fire has been put out, let's go back." He finally said.

"...Your right - as usual - My apologies Neji…"

"Your kinda starting to creep me out…"

"Sorry…"

"It's not your style to apologize. Keep being you, that's enough."

 _Oh Neji - You say the damnedest things sometimes. I wonder if he has romantic feelings for me? I couldn't imagine, I've honestly never seen him as anything but a treasured friend and a foot-soldier for my ideals. I'm thankful for him, but I acknowledge that it can be taken away at any instant. Just like my Hinata can, but that won't stop me from cherishing them. They are forever immortal inside my memories. I'll never let_ _ **YOU**_ _touch them in here!_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

At my first opportunity, much before the crack of dawn, I was restless to gain more information about the summoning jutsu.

 _Sleeping is better suited for the dead._

I sat outside in the darkness upon a smooth topped rock, nature all around me, the trickling stream feeding into the mouth of the clans pond.

Having the opportunity to retrieve the document, I stared at the simplistic words before me.

" _Hand Signs: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram_

 _Instructions: After forming the last hand seal, enter your imagination."_

"It couldn't just be that fucking simple could it?!" I fumed.

 _Did I really waste 6 months on such a stupid clause to use the summoning Jutsu?!_

Well… Either way, I guess I can try testing this with a clone now…"

I brought my hands together into the classic clone hand sign.

 _ **Shadow Clone**_

I watched the clone go through the hand signs: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram.

Finishing the last hand sign, I watched the clone phase out, but I felt the energy of the clone merge back with me.

 _It popped? Why?_

I tried again and again, but only continued getting the same result.

 _At this point I guess I'll give up on pre scouting. I know that around here is Mount Myōboku, apparently the entrance is even around here somewhere._

I didn't want to have to use my EMS puppet when someone affiliated with the village would hear about it.

 _So I either have to escape any registered summons… or kill everyone I show it to. Can't be letting Jiraiya or anyone hear about my Susanoo while I'm still a part of the village._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

My eyes were dry. A tingling burning sensation came from them. I hadn't let them rest in some time, always alert, always scanning, and never complacent.

Self preservation - An easy concept to introduce someone to, but with endless possibilities of things to learn and anticipate, it was impossible to master.

 _Impossible is a word I can't stand. Sometimes I let it slide if I use it, but for anyone else to tell me something is impossible creates a need in me. A need to show them that anything is possible. Is this why I basically declared war on Being-X?_

The gears turned and turned. My mind whirring ceaselessly. Bit by bit I was closer to understanding - Myself, this world, and the demonic Being-X.

 _How can I not think of these things, while looking at what I've done…_

A man laid atop the sterilized sheets, covered in gauze and ointment. The burns couldn't be cured in one shot with medical ninjutsu.

"Itomi…-san"

His chest heaved and caved in an unnatural rhythm. The scarred lung tissue causing each breath to be a great difficulty. A tube from an oxygen tank was fed through his nostrils.

 _I had done this, the least I can do is accept my acknowledging what my actions have caused. I won't delude myself. What I did was for me, and it hurt someone as innocent as Itomi who was never anything but kind to me._

 _My hands clenched into fists. I wanted to fight, to punch, to skewer, to destroy, but my enemy is almost like an idea. He's abstract. How do you kill something as abstract as an idea?_

The smoke of exhaustion clouded my mind, but it was not welcomed. Through willpower, I conquered my fatigue forcing it to submit to my vast motivation.

The electrocardiography machine let out a faint beep quicker than once per second. The beeps blending into a ringing obfuscation of background noise.

The patients foot twitched in his sleep, a gruff low moan audible simultaneously.

"Get well soon Itomi-san."

 _I might be a monster, but I'm a monster of necessity. It is not my goal to watch people suffer, I'd rather everyone be okay, but that's just not the way the world works. The law of equivalent exchange purposes that to gain something, something else must be lost. As scientific as that might sound, it is also true in life._

The simplistic clock affixed to the wall clicked seven times. Checking it's accuracy, I drew my stopwatch from my pocket.

 _Yeah its right… I Killed more than 30 minutes here sulking - Like that can change anything…_

I exited his room. I had prior engagements I agreed to, which were later today because it was a saturday. Hinata often likes to sleep in a bit on the weekends as a reprieve for how early we start training on weekdays so that she can still make it to the academy on time.

The hospital's stench grew more foul every time I visited. I wasn't sure whether it was in my head or if they started using stronger cleaning agents.

As another way to occupy my mind, I avoided stepping on the cracks between the set tiles as I walked down the hallway. An open window allowed a swift wind to find its way through the corridor, the gust catching the curtains making them dance.

Using my discovery as a shortcut, I dipped out the window landing on the concrete walkway below. Still consciously avoiding stepping on the cracks, I walked forward sharpening my self-discipline and mastery.

After the walkway shifted from concrete to gravel, my self-imposed contest came to an end. I had only grazed a single crack with the tip of my toe, an imperfection nonetheless, but a small one at that.

My feet carried me to the edge of the forest. The Hyuga princess was waiting for me. She was in one of the best moods I had ever seen her. She radiated positivity brilliantly.

 _She was a shining star in the bleak world we found ourselves - My shining star._

Grinning from ear to ear she waved enthusiastically to me, to which I could only return the favor.

I approached her with my arms extended. She ran towards me. Crashing together she wrapped her arms around me while bouncing up and down.

Now I was interested. Interested in why she was in such a good mood.

 _Was it our kiss?_

Her cheek snug with my own. she let out a nervous chuckle.

"I did it - I finally did it!"

"You did what?" I asked.

"-You know how you always say just go for what you want? Just do it and find out the consequences later?"

"Yeah, of course. That was always the lesson from day one."

I was confused.

"Weeeeeeeeellllllll! There's this boy I like from my class - Naruto-kun - And I finally worked up the nerve to-"

My world quaked. My gut tensed and I became dizzy. My balance was becoming harder to maintain.

 _She… She was still obsessed with Naruto? After everything I've done for her?!_

"So then after that, I pulled the scarf he gave me way back when out of my bag and gave it back to him. I told him that I liked him and I wanted to spend time with him. He was so cute the entire time. It took like 3 tries for him to figure out I Like-liked him - he's so dense sometimes."

 _Her treasured ratty scarf? The one she wouldn't let me touch? That was originally Naruto's?_

All the puzzle pieces began fitting together. I was an idiot… To assume that she would ever see me like that… Even our kiss was just a warm up for Naruto wasn't it…

I hadn't expected it. I probably should have seen it as a possibility, but I hadn't. I was entirely blind-sided.

"He's… Mina-Senpai are you crying?" She asked startled.

 _NO?! Of course not! I wouldn't be so easily defeated!_

Reaching for my face, the damp trails on my cheek provided evidence otherwise.

"I'm j-just...S-so happy for you Ya-know?" My voice trembling despite trying to collect myself.

 _I can't do it. I just can't anymore…_

 _Why did I think she would be any different. They all leave after I make them better. They just use me 'till they get what they want. It's the way of the world - did you think it would be any different this time YOU IDIOT!_

I turned away from her, clenching my teeth holding back my emotional gasps from spilling out.

"...Mina?" She asked in a somber inflection.

 _She can tell your full of shit. She could always tell couldn't she - thats why she used me. I had to give per props, I never expected her to outcannive me -_ _ **my mistake**_.

" **T-Train by yourself!"** I shouted.

"Wah-"

I ran. I didn't know where, I just wanted to leave. I didn't want to be next to her for another moment.

A slideshow of our best memories flashed through my head. I was burning hot, the memories only serving to destroy me further.

My heels dug into the earth with each stride carrying me further away from the person I formerly believed to be my love.

 _She kicked my heart in the dick. The pain is immense._

A river of snot leaked out of my nose. The hot waterworks shamed me greater than any other instance.

 _Is all I can do fucking cry?! Am I so incompetant that I've regressed into a little Shonin girl who needs to be saved? So out of touch to believe that I could ever find love in this world that Being-X manipulates? Fine! I get it! Power is the only way I'd dismantle his deathgrip on my life._

I was gritting my teeth, and I felt capable of tearing someone apart, but my sorrow had mostly shifted to emptiness.

 _I didn't need that shit anyways. It's always been just me, and I can do it all by myself._

I nodded.

 _This is the only logical solution… that I came up with so far at least._

 _I need a day… One day to catch my breath. To regain my bearings. To redefine what was important. I will allow the rest of this single day for myself._

Unable to determine what I would use this day, I returned to the compound, and then mindlessly to my residence.

The home was empty. Filled with shit that didn't matter and devoid of people.

It was so empty.

Walking past the kitchen entry I stopped.

My stomach grumbled. I stared longingly at the pantry door taking the moment to make a decision.

 _What did I want?_

I moseyed over to the pantry then opened it.

"What would Izuna do?" I asked myself.

 _I simply wanted escape. Even if it was only for a day. For 24 hours - 1440 minutes - 1440 times 60 is… 85 thousand seconds? - or something? … I don't know! I JUST WANT TO ESCAPE!_

I lifted my hand into the air, my skin pushed aside to allow my bone to extend past the tips of each finger growing longer. They shot up like a heroin addict to fetch me my poison.

A humongous bottle was the first to catch my eye, and as such was the first to be snatched.

The label was yellowish with the recognizable Land of Fire Logo visible. _Tanzaku Gai Fire Whiskey._

Even in my last life I could barely tolerate liqueur with a chaser, so I knew what I would need next.

Pulling on the prehistoric refrigerator box's top and pulling it open, I leaned over.

Milk...Water… Hot sauce… Lemonade?

Grabbing a hold of the cool damp plastic container, I pulled it out shutting the lid to the fridge.

Grabbing two spare glass cups, I returned to my personal quarters.

The ceiling fan, which I absentmindedly left on, circulated warm humid air throughout the room.

Setting the glasses down, I stabbed the cork plugged into the whiskey bottle with a bone - morphing to get leverage - and pulled the cork out without issue.

I poured beverages into both cups.

I took one in each hand knowing full well what I was prepared to do.

A glass reached my lips, tilting it up pouring lemonade into my mouth.

Without swallowing it I raised the other glass, pouring the entirety of the alcohol down my throat in shuddered gulps quickly following it with more lemonade.

The whiskey burned my throat, the taste foul yet masked. It was tempting to gag, but this is the decision I chose.

"One down…"

I took another… and another… and another...

My intoxication crept along little by little. The ceiling fan blurring more than usual as I watched it violently twirl.

I felt sick to my stomach but my pain was dulled. The dizzying debilitating haze not allowing me to focus on my problems.

 _It was not true escape, and if 'God' were going to use this opportunity to kill me he would be…_

A painful clench in my abdomen caused me to pull the wastebasket on the floor to my face.

A stream of vomit shot out of my mouth and nose burning on its way out. The feeling causing me to reflexively gag and start the process anew.

It didn't stop until I was dry heaving, having fully emptied my stomach.

"...Time for roound twoo I guesh." I mumbled miserably.

 _...If Being-X wanna kill me tonight, I win anyways. Needing me to be debilitated to kill me? I can't imagine a creature so prideful considering that a victory, and that itself would be some consolation._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The shrill cries of morning birds was too much to sleep through, _especially now_.

My sleep had been shallow and unreplenishing. The alcohol's buzz never allowing me to reach my REM cycle.

It had been some time since I allowed myself to gaze upon my adoptive mothers tombstone. I never feel worthy to show my face their of all places, but I want to hope that my circumstances had forced my hand.

I leaned over and vomited again into my waste-basket.

 _I will not be a puppet! No one can pull my strings - their mine Damnit!_

The night before was a bit of a blur. I couldn't remember what I had done with the Whiskey bottle or the glasses, but I probably cleaned them or stashed them out of sight.

 _Perspective can mean many things. Knowledge alone is useless, it is only knowledge that you act upon that derives power. I would learn what it meant to defy a demon. I don't mean to boast, but I can't wait for that shitty god to make a play. I'll be ready and waiting._

After getting dressed, I found myself outside.

 _I'm extra pale and pasty today. Hopefully nobody will dwell on it._

My attention focused on the street before me. Several crows resting on the cable wire being strung feeding power to the Comerse District. I located the familiar Yamanaka Flowers shop.

 _I'm proud of my research into flowering plants as expected of a kunoichi of at least a fragment of 'her' brilliance._

The choice was simple, there was no choice. I selected a Blue rose assortment that would do Ayasha justice.

 _Those blonde locks - There's no doubt - The cashier girl Is Ino today..._

 _Errrrphhh_ I groaned internally.

"Hi. I would like to purchase this assortment."

"Why? You gonna go _burn_ it somewhere?" she asked not hiding her malice.

"Just the flowers please, I'm not paying for anything else."

The girl scowled at me making more stable eye contact. Her eyes were uncomfortable. I showed no weakness because I couldn't afford it - but those eyes piss me off.

" _Slut._ " Ino whispered.

 _I was trying to ignore the comment. I get it, she's pissed because I'm better than her, smarter, more beautiful, and was the reason her dream lover ascended classrooms. I can be the bigger person here..._

Accepting my change for the flowers and quickly pocketing it. I scooped the flowers into my left arm.

 _...But something about her fucking eyes._

In that day, In that moment, I wasn't strong enough to hold back the flood of negative emotions from spilling out.

I grabbed Ino's planted elbow she was leaning on and pulled hard. I watched her fall forward, her hand covered chin smacking into the countertop.

" _Idiot._ " I said.

"-You're the worst! Nobody likes you! Get out - Get out!"

 _One of these days my emotions will kill me. I can't seem to deal with them lately…_

I was ashamed. I had stooped to her level.

 _It was hard not to when you know their soooo stupid._

 _It's unreal - it's almost like anyone here was never taught to think for themselves and everyone just expects me to do all their thinking for them. Like I can fucking afford that shit. I don't have enough juice for my own problems._

Walking out of the store, I couldn't help but to mentally relive her last words to me:

" **-Nobody likes you! Get out - Get out!"**

 _I can sympathize with how she's feeling. It was the same way I felt about Being-X , and if she only knew she would totally take my side._

My rationalizations helping settle the sour feeling of falling short of my mark of mastery.

 _If I am to become a godslayer - I need the complete dominance over my emotion. I can't allow my jealousy, pride, or vengeance to overtake me. I need to find out the depths of Being-X's limitations to draw up a proper plan of attack._

Along the pathway to the graveyard my feet fell a hundred times over. Another Step and another, all in a vain attempt to get closer towards _her_ final resting place.

The last few times I visited, I hadn't been able to force myself the full way. I was too unclean and unpolished to present myself before her.

 _I just needed some extra time to work on myself before I could return. Before I could stand before the woman I was never worthy of._

 _Today I'm feeling… kinda -iffy... I don't think -iffy's good enough…_

"Even If I don't make it all the way today... I'll just get further than I did last time. As long as I'm making progress its fine - right?"

While I internally was debating whether my happiness could be equated as directly proportional to the peace I would rob Ayasha from visiting her, I was interrupted.

Tokuma was visiting her first.

 _He deserves to see her more than me…_

I set the flowers down beside the pathway. I knew there to be some type of afterlife in this world.

 _I don't know if they really watch down on us. If they follow our struggles or only see a greatest hits compilation of our most important deeds. All I knew - Ayasha deserves my respect and honor._

I said my farewells expecting to leave quickly, but something was bugging me.

My father figure clutched an empty bottle of Land of Fire Branded Whiskey at his chest.

He was mumbling something… I couldn't hear it, so I took a few steps closer. I only wanted to have my curiosity quenched that he was alright.

 _Who am I kidding - I won't be spending time trying to improve him. I don't care if he's alright - Do I?… I... just want to understand him better. Yes, ofcourse. That's it._

I became close enough to not only hear his words, but also the raw unfiltered emotion escaping him.

"It's… It's been really hard without you. I've been trying my best but It feels like my best might not be enough… I've been making more scatterbrained mistakes and all anyone can do is ask if I'm okay… Like they think asking about it makes it easier to deal with."

 _I can sympathize with that. I hate when people ask if I'm okay. Who do they think they are to question if I'm alright? Look at yourselves before you judge me._

Tokuma's difficulty of putting his feelings into words cut me deep. It caused me to realize that all the time he was preaching to me, it was in part to himself as well.

"Losing you… Is also losing the best part of myself. Ever since You came into my life, I shaped it to fit you perfectly. The gap is so vast I can't bare my own reflection anymore…"

 _How can someone, who is a lecherous drunkard, be capable of this level of self-reflection? Or is it because he is in this state that he is capable of it? Did all the dates and intoxication pull this from him, or has it always been there?_

"I know that I'll never be the same. But still, I used to think I was the one in the sorriest state - but our daughter is doing much worse. _Aya~_ I'm a terrible role model… Our little girl d-d-drunk herself to sleep last night… and s-she is so filled with hatred. It pains me. I hurt physically from just thinking about the damage I can't shield her from... I can't shield her from herself. I hate myself-"

My legs were weak. They felt like jello. As a puppet that had cut herself from the invisible hand that controlled me, I finally fell. The fall more grounding than any lack of freedom. Reality showing itself to me through the very perspective I ignorantly thought I understood.

 _I really understood nothing..._

"I-I see her t-t-trying to cope e-everyday… _Sorry_ …" He said his sentence stalling out in emotional gasps. "-and-and it's not fair! I know as a parent it's my responsibility to watch, but I can only endure watching the same cycle of hatred ravage humanity for so long. It's my fault our daughter has turned to the bottle! I inadvertently showed it to her! **I TOLD HER WITH MY ACTIONS THAT IT WAS OKAY!** "

He grew silent for several moments, swallowing back the emotions so close from overtaking him.

"M-My sanity is slipping by the day. I can finally see what you saw all those long years ago. I understand your shift and feelings much better now… This is what you felt all along, isn't it?"

The mulch my knee's rested on pricked my skin. The pain felt pleasant.

 _I am guilty of causing Tokuma all this trouble… How could I ever be expected to make amends?_

Digging through the library of logic and knowledge that I had accumulated over every experience between both lives, I still didn't have an answer.

"But I'm not _you_ , and I'll never be _you_. All my damage control is just that. Things aren't getting any better, I'm hoping that everything doesn't fall apart but I know its coming-"

"No - I won't let things fall apart." I said.

Or maybe I didn't. The sound caught in my throat, unable to voice my thoughts.

"God... why did you take her?! I know that I still have a lot to learn and all… but the world would be a better place if you would have just taken me instead."

 _Don't say that. You are a fine parent in your own right and have nothing to be ashamed of. I am not a product of your dysfunction, I was wholesomely defective before you met me._

 _Where did it go? My courage, my determination? I was scheduled to battle a god, and yet now when I can speak up to save Tokuma from his suffering - I am voiceless. I am a coward._

"I've always been selfish, I didn't understand how selfish I was until it was put in perspective for me. But it's hard for an old dog to learn new tricks… so please… god… I have one final request-"

 _No… I'm the selfish one… Please don't pander to Being-X… He's the one that took her away!_

"- Please - Give her back. Let me take her place. Drag me to the depths of hell or whatever you want - just return Ayasha in my place…Lord - I'll do anything..."

Tokuma was bent over in the dirt, groveling in front of the grave.

"R-return my daughters mother. You see don't you? I'll sacrifice everything for this one favor… Let my last selfish act do some good… I beg you..."

I couldn't… I couldn't bare to listen to it anymore. The grim reality of Tokuma's heart weighed heavily upon me. I retreated - hardly able to walk, I hobbled emotionstruck away.

 _Maybe Being-X was right all along? Maybe I was never worthy. Maybe I brought all of these terrible things to myself. Maybe I had been fighting against only myself…_

Something fractured.

" **NO! IT CAN'T BE! - THE DEMON IS JUST FUCKING WITH YOU AGAIN MINA! IT WANTS TO SEE THIS! IT WANTS TO MAKE YOU WEAKER! DON"T TURN BACK, ELSE ALL OF OUR SACRIFICES WILL BE WASTED, I WON'T LET THAT EVER HAPPEN WHILE I CAN STILL MOVE, WHILE I CAN STILL THINK, AND WHILE I CAN STILL BREATHE."**

The string of words was not my own, but unlike Being-X's, they came from _my_ mouth.

I knew something was off. Something wasn't normal with me anymore. Something changed.

 _Did I lose my sanity? My persona? My pride? I didn't know. There was me - and then there was Izuna. We had conflicting Ideals and goals, but somehow it felt right to micromanage in this way. To allow Izuna to combat Being-X, and to allow me to protect everything that made me...well me._

I couldn't afford another moment alone. I had to become something greater than myself. I had to combat a God - and I saw no way to do this alone. I didn't have any foolish sentiments that I could beat him by myself anymore. I bore witness to my weakness, and to beat a God there couldn't be any weakness.

 _Izuna was my strength. He could carry me when I am too weak, And I can lead him to where he needs to go. A group effort as it should have been from the beginning._

Despite acting tough, I didn't have any of the fire in my belly that I might normally have. I was deflated like a balloon robbed of air.

My cowardice was good at hiding. I stripped as much of it away as I could. But like cancer often times a trace will remain and fester into something formidable again.

Staring at my palm, I knew what _we_ must do.

 **SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP - SLAAAAAP -**

In my frenzy, we were relentless. If we showed ourself a trace of compassion it would all be in vain. we hit harder… and harder… We needed to cement _my_ prior mistakes as exactly what they were. Mistakes of the past. We needed to believe in our joint ability to change, in our ability to learn.

 _I wasn't ready to stop. I deserved this much._

Blood spilled down my face, we accidentally smashed my nose somewhere along in our self destructive rage. My inability to come to terms with the disgusting humanity I couldn't escape from until now. The differences between my ideal self and the one here and now was too vast to close alone.

The pain awakening my slumbering masochism. I was excited to chase my sorrows away with the pain, an acceptable alternative.

The curtain had pulled back exposing the nasty stage I used to trick myself in believing that what I was doing was actually justice - It was not. I did it all because I wanted to, and anything I used to say about it is a lie.

 _It wasn't right - and that didn't matter - not anymore at least. All that mattered was results - And my results better at least be good… or else -_ _ **why did I do all of this in the first place?**_

The inside of my mouth had cuts and gashes opened up by the assault and my teeth. The Coppery-Iron taste soothing the hurricane of inferiority that I felt trapped in.

The skin around my eyes swelled up causing my vision to narrow. The folds of skin getting in the way.

I came to a conclusion under my self inflicted duress.

 _I didn't care anymore. Nothing matters. I'm just going to go for it._

Throwing caution to the wind, I gave into my flesh, my desire.

 _ **Byakugan! - Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram!**_

I imagined myself being sucked inside my imagination. The very idea felt paradoxical, but I could tell something was happening.

My senses were flooded with data, so much that they hurt. The environment around me buzzed like static. Crashes and silence meshed in the strangest noises I've ever experienced.

My lungs filled with water, and my environment shifted to a sea, some level below its surface.

Crimson oozed through the water in thin streams rising upwards. It was my blood.

My lungs convulsed and spurt, bubbles shooting from my mouth.

-But I could only watch in horror.

My Byakugan showed me a swarming school of sharks closing in on me.

My brain despite striving to work in overdrive kept clanking and skipping. My mind was blank.

The closest shark to me broke off from his encirclement bolting towards me.

I sent a narrow hollow bone shooting to the surface having noticed where the bubbles were going - up.

I encased myself with bone, shooting out a lance of bone to skewer its head, but it spun narrowly avoiding it missing me and swimming past rejoining the circle.

A vortex of water appeared thrashing me this way and that. I was desperately stretching the hollow bone to fetch me air.

A screech resounded through the water, the vibrations more distinguished than the actual noise being drowned out.

The whirlpool still held me hostage.

Sweet oxygen arrived in my lungs, but I still chortled and coughed weakly.

The eyes of the sharks around me transitioned to full black.

 _ **BEING X!**_

Time froze, the bubbles floating to the surface looked more like a still frame on a paused movie.

They broke their formation, still moving encasing me from top to bottom too now drawing ever nearer.

 _ **Insolence is repaid with DEATH.**_ I heard inside my head.

The sharks all curving their coursed directly for me.

 _They swam so quickly._

From the black void, I retrieved Leon. my chakra threads stretched from my chakra points, including threads which made their way out between my eyes and eyelids attaching to the puppet.

" **Never again. I'm done with your shit Being-X!"**

My chakra and Leons were now one.

White eathernal twine to thin and narrow manifested, binding a shark in place. The threading pierced into the skin, and drawing from the Shark-nin's chakra, I called forth my impenetrable defense.

A golden hue colored the environment. It was if a wealthy king's sparkling treasury was down here.

A skull rose over me, the skeletal bone arriving quickly after. A ribcage encased me. I pulled the hostage shark into my incomplete susanoo.

I struggled to form more of the susanoo, but the shark snapped and popped like a broken battery.

My eyes fixed on the only shark which looked like it could make its way between the gap of my susanoo ribs, spearing into it with the **Heavens Twine**.

 _I nicknamed it this out of spite, I wonder how Being-X feels about this!_

My chakra system burned. Every pathway felt hot and under stress. Being the conductor between the puppet and my external energy sources was searing my pathways.

Instead of making the susanoo bigger, I had a thought to attempt to move it's pre-existing bones like I control my own.

With strained difficulty, they fought against my will only serving to piss me off further.

 _ **BEND TO MY WILL DAMNIT!**_

A snapping crack entered my ears. A rib fractured falling off.

But I could still feel the disconnected susanoo bone, and imposing my will on it, a thread shot out hooking back onto the susanoo body. After re-linking, I sent all the sharks chakra to it and commanded it to grow.

Before I could blink, it flashed - the bone hyperextension lancing through more sharks.

Witnessing the spectacle of gore and violence - I felt like singing of joy.

 _This was my element. This is what I was waiting for. Come at me you fucking demon._

I shook in ecstasy, my front teeth resting on my lips.

Hooking into the additional sharks, I got access to their chakra system as well, I converted all their chakra into calcified bone. It looked like they exploded, but more accurately they were tore apart from the inside as their skeletal system grew - creating white stonelike pillars stretching in every direction from it.

 _ **So this is what you had in mind… Did you think it would be enough?**_

The unexpected voice broke me from my pleasant revorie.

My entire body was numb, it appeared like bruises were developing under my skin.

As painful as it all was, the chance to spit in Being-X's face again was too tantalising.

My lips curling back showing him the most demonic smile I could muster.

 _He will learn to respect me! To respect humanity!_

I compacted the susanoo smaller and more dense.

The rest of the school of sharks went for me, but as they neared, I told the susanoo to extend in impossibly different directions.

The susanoo shattered at my command - skewering the soulless black eye'd shark-nin with countless fragments ripping them into hunks of severed meat, skin, and-

The frozen time restored itself, everything bursting into vivid motion.

-dissipating blood.

It looked like one or two survived, but they were swimming away as fast as it could.

The scene looked like it could be an aquatic horror story. Strings of intestines, cartlidge, teeth, and all were either floating or sinking to the depths.

I fought with my tired battered body to swim to the surface - through the water I had stained red.

Countless feet I swam upward, my ears popping uncomfortably all the way.

I was going up too fast, and I could tell that I needed to wait and chill for a second to be better safe than sorry.

Treading water tirelessly, I thought about where I had found myself.

 _In the middle of a god-damn ocean just waiting to be ambushed?! I can't believe my luck! Why sharks? Wasn't I supposed to at least be close to Mount Myōboku? There would never be an Ocean right next to a mountain. The very idea is nonsensical._

 _Unless… perhaps the summoning Jutsu brings you to a species your most compatible with - since the while jutsu has to do with imagination and whatnot. There must be some sort of compatibility._

After waiting a few minutes, My legs struggled against the water, rising upward until my head crowned out of the water, my mouth finally able to fully open and taste the air without a pipe.

The surface was chaotic, waves crashing into each other, water being tossed this way and that. However I saw far off land.

Being the resourceful lad I am, I decided to make a bone vessel, and that probably sounds grand and all, but the reality was more like a hollow piece of driftwood I clung to. The idea was to keep it the least dense it can be without taking on water.

I paddled slowly to shore. The distant land becoming larger in perspective the closer we became. The sand beach didn't extend far until it lead into a forest.

It was now that I was suffering from my impulsive decision to set off to the summons realm without my gear, food, or anything.

 _I could have brought shark meat with me if I had thought about it, but it was honestly the last thing on my mind._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

On land, I took time to tend to my injuries and bandage myself. The surface of my skin closest to my chakra pathways had discolored bruising and pain during movement.

Small critters scurried hurriedly throughout the forest.

My eyes, oddly enough, were my least fatigued part of me, carefully scanning around me at all times.

That being said, my eyes did infuriatingly itch. The salt water of the ocean had an effect on me and caked my drying lips.

A lone furred creature approached me, recognizing it, I stared into its eyes. A brown squirrel with a long bushy tail walking on two legs - upright.

The creature barely reached to my knee it was so short, but it's tail was several feet long trailing behind it.

"Why does a squirrel swim on his back summoner?"

I had no answer. The absurdity of the question was more confusing than anything, but then again, that could be its intention.

I paid more attention to my surroundings retrieving Leon from his void.

"To keep his nuts dry."

It was more absurd an opening statement than my imagination could have expected. I snorted and giggled because of the serious nature the squirrel carried himself.

"You must have traveled far." The squirrel emphasizing by pulling his paws apart. His tail swaying through his speech. "I mean you no harm. I noticed that you are human."

 _It's been a while since anyone called me that._

"The squirrels observational skills are so keen. Did you know this was a tree?" I said pointing to the closest one to us.

"Hehehehehe," it squealed. It's high pitch laughing graded on my patience.

"What do you want?"

"We want information about the other world. We have compiled stories and legends from most intelligent animals, but we have never had a summoner."

 _Compiled stories and legends of most animals? What about Dragons?_

"Do you have information on any Dragons?"

"If you become our Summoner, you will have access to our stores of knowledge."

I was hoping I'd get better intel out of him before I spilled the beans,but it looks like now is as good of time as any.

"Your species is beneath me. I am a living legend. I am searching for Dragons."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Reviewer Question: - Favorite Heist Movie/Story?** _(Mine would probably be_ _ **"Ocean's Eleven"**_ _which I partly used for inspiration for last chapter.)_

…


	33. Chapter 29

**Article 33 - Chapter 29 - "S" Plus Laughter**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

"We want information about the other world. We have compiled stories and legends from most intelligent animals, but we have never had a summoner."

 _Compiled stories and legends of most animals? What about Dragons?_

"Do you have information on any Dragons?"

"If you become our Summoner, you will have access to our stores of knowledge."

I was hoping I'd get better intel out of him before I spilled the beans,but it looks like now is as good of time as any.

"Your species is beneath me. I am a living legend. I am searching for Dragons."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 29 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

The squirrel's eyes widened, His tail freezing mid-air.

 _Admiring Leon are we?_

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

"Chuukukukuku!" it chattered.

Eight chakra infused rodents rushed and scampered from their cover. From their hiding places.

Each of the newer squirrels had gear much more suited for combat than the original squirrel I met - who by comparison, only had leather clothing with numerous pockets.

'Unlike many animals, Squirrels don't have packs - we are a community. We are a single entity divided. We are everywhere." one of them chirped.

The squirrels tail was flailing about aggressively slamming into the ground with thumps.

I smirked at the rodents bravado to believe this would be sufficient back-up for me, _because It wouldn't._

"You all still have the chance to live. Any squirrel who wishes to live or save your kin need only tell me whatever they know about Dragons." I said.

Their heads bobbed and turned to each other erratically wordlessly coming to some consensus.

"A child." A newer squirrel voiced

"-Such arrogance." Another spat out.

"Human - you misunderstand. You are not worthy of the Squirrel clan by virtue of coming this far, we only want to test you to see our compatibility."

All of us stood in a hush. They seemingly were waiting for my response.

 _Yes, that's right. Now I hold the power, the way it always should have been. If I plan to work that shitty god out of a job, then I should start playing my role as an unstoppable force._

Chakra flowed through the threads into Leon.

The Sharingan unleashed a visual jutsu into the rodents. A sensation unlike any I've experienced welcomed me. A neural connection where my thoughts and words were being projected into each of the squirrels like mindless vessels. Like foot soldiers.

All but one of them fell under my control, their bodies responding succinctly to my commands.

"Fahyre? Verthal? Meyridian?" The only sentient animal prodded.

"Your friends work for me now. Tell me where I can find my Dragons or I'll kill them all starting with the females."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _A_ fter killing two possessed animals, I had an epiphany. an idea sailed sporadically into my brain.

 _To just kill the one who refused to give me my information and Instead - released my captives one by one from my control to interrogate them._

My results were much better after implementing this strategy.

 _That is if I can call the trash intel they gave me results._

"Dragons haven't been around for over 180 years. They migrated somewhere far away long ago, but even with all the knowledge we have stolen from the other clans, we have not found where they went." It said. "Some say they might have all died off… others say that their previous master slaughtered most of them and the rest are in hiding. There is no concrete answer."

 _Finally, a squirrel with enough sensibility to realize my threats weren't idle, but still managed to tell me everything but what I wanted to know._ _ **Where were they?!**_

Retrieving my pocket watch and flipping it open, I gasped.

Water had found its way inside the clock mechanism, the hands still moving but under noticeable stress.

Anger swelled in me, but I swallowed it realizing that despite my unfortunate arrival, it was my own fault for exposing the timepiece to the elements.

 _I was on a time limit. If I stay too long, I risk Hiashi returning to the village discovering my disappearance, and if that happens, I'm also risking my brain being destroyed by the caged bird seal._

 _Why didn't I take a second to think before plunging myself into the summoning realm?_

Movement from around me broke me from my daydream. My body convulsed at the sheer number of chakra signatures getting closer. They came fast from the east. Bodies and bodies charging forward, their path towards where I was standing.

 _I might be self-confident, but I wasn't suicidal. I didn't want to face an army of squirrels just to make a single mistake that would cost me my life. A Retreat is a way to potentially pick a more favorable fight in the future - and that was the plan._

I began running. Running away from the swarm of chakra infused critters approaching.

" **They are nothing before me! Let me finish them."**

The words escaped my lips despite not thinking them.

 _Why would we turn around when we can hold onto our resources. We don't want the squirrels as our contract, why fight them?_

" **Would you walk away from a mess you spilled on the floor? No - You clean it up. Finish what you started!"**

In a precarious scenario, battered and outnumbered, I should have been panicked. I should have been uncomfortable. But I didn't feel out of my element. _Why was I really running? Was it that I thought I could die? To make a silly error that could result in the end of my life? I can die at any time, so that's not an excuse._

"No… It wasn't any of those things." I said.

It was a remnant of fear - but not of death. I had come to fear myself, or more succinctly - my potential.

 _Conflict brings something out of me. A dark rumination that is unbiased._

A taboo thrill that I told myself I was above. A thriving for chaos when I tell myself that I need order.

 _Paradoxical? Ofcourse. But such has been the legacy of mankind since its conception. We are born paradoxical creatures. Utterly complex by design. I fear that giving into this paradox meant that I would be unworthy of replacing Being-X. That even if I won, I would become just like it._

It was in my opinion, the single most toxic idea to my psyche. It was what divided me more and more over time, and dividing one's focus is the easiest way to lose sight of what you set out to do in the beginning.

 _I held Izuna's reins firm thinking it gave me control, but it was all an illusion. Holding him on a tight leash, never allowing his true free will... was the same thing Being-X did to me..._

 _Can I stand for that? Can I continue to believe in myself recognizing such hypocrisy?_

I knew my answer. I let his reins go - unleashing the maelstrom of chaos to truly greet this world on his terms.

My feet stopped, the enemies still hot in pursuit on my tail.

I turned, facing the stampede's with copious adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Dust rose from the canopy of the forest into the sky.

My heartbeat shifted in rhythm to synchronize with the footsteps of the ground being trampled.

The animals under my genjutsu neared circling around me, a silver tether manifesting and reaching out to each of them.

The twine burrowed beneath their hide into their flesh. It slithered and squirmed slurping out their wells of energy, channeling it through my system and into Leon.

The flow of the nonnative chakra felt coarse and viscous. Like liquid sandpaper was eroding away my veins and arteries.

It was painful, but I embraced the pain as it did me. We were inseparable all this time. It was time to share pain with the world. To allow it a palatable taste of our personal symphony.

 _Our song._

The ground trembled under foot barely noticeable, but I knew exactly what it was.

"Aghhhkaaaa!" I exclaimed with clenched teeth.

Chakra manifesting around me. Apparition-like bones encased me, my determination pushed me to outdo my previous efforts.

A golden glow radiated from around me, the light reflecting back from the eyes of the animals peering out of the tree-line. The golden sparkle calling me to welcome them to their demise. To let them feel the embrace of death in all its glory. To subject them to the shitty god before I usurp it.

 _I cannot be the only outraged consumer! Being-X runs an anti-competitive market. The power exclusivity he tried to hand me never sat right with me, the intention felt far too human to allow it to be revered as a god. -But I will do it better and I will let everyone know, because unlike Being-X, I will have full disclosure._

The furred army spilled out from the treeline, charging forwards. The front-line's slowed, but still trudged on. The hundreds of animals marched to their end, to their valley of death.

Their leader made a critical error. A blunder. They thought numbers gave them superiority.

 _There's not a reason why, but 'theirs' is to do and die._

On marched the army of hundreds, into the jaws of death. Into the mouth of hell.

Their battle cries pierced the empty sky. I felt their determination and tried to fight back the shivers of cold - my thrilling endeavor to stand at the top - for _'theirs'_ was to try and die.

Their execution drawing nearer, spit hurtling out from their nearing gnashing maws.

 _As a force of nature, I was 'the law'._

Squirrels broke up into separate formations. Long distance jutsu specialists wove hand signs and hurled bodies of chakra.

Elemental jutsu impacted my superior shell one after another. The attacks came in waves and droves.

 _All in all, it was holding well versus the firepower of the hundreds._

A silvery strand of heavens twine phased into reality catching the army by surprise. Blood spurt from bodies as I skewered the slow and weak first with the hardened sea of needles. Death came like an oceanic wave; Quick, forceful, and indiscriminate.

I didn't use my lungs, but I strained to will all their precious energy into my twine, sucking as much as I could in as if it was a straw.

I fed it into Leon solidifying my defense.

Beneath my skin a lava-like burning flow boiled. I clenched my small fists tightly until they lost feeling in them.

From inside my susanoo panic-room, I watched numerous flames of life extinguished like cheap matches. It was so easy, far easier than it ever used to be.

 **"Hahahahahaha!"** I cried out hardened with experience. **"The fun won't be done 'till you acknowledge my divinity. I am a wrathful god - hear my glorious name - IZUNA."**

Rodents were leaping like frogs at me in a vain attempt to give me their fangs and claws.

White spikes dug into several that sprung towards me.

I gave the command and watched.

Their kin's skeletons morphed jutting out of the tagged bodies into lances, spikes, and spears, skewering the front-line of the herd of hundreds.

Blood rained and poured from the sky onto the earth.

An unimpressive burst of chakra condensed into a minuscule form mixed into the never-ending onslaught of jutsu crashed into my susanoo, however the heft behind it was unimaginable from it's appearance.

Swept off my feet, and My susanoo off it's base - We were launched backwards in a spiraling cartwheel. Smacking into the ground still spinning and rolling about.

Bonking my head against the interior of my cage, I was nauseous and discombobulated.

Dazed, I was still unable to relent, I struggled to push the incomplete susanoo upright, but I was being crawled on by a regiment of the army. Heads fought to squeeze through the gaps between ribs, their teeth chomping at the air with ferocious hissing.

My Susanoo began to flood with water. An electrical current zapped me cooking my nerve endings like I was a prized crab being prepared by a band of feral chefs.

Thick gooey blood dripped from my nose. The crimson paint straining my hand after dabbing my palm on my face.

My susanoo transformed bending under my will as never before - as if it was now made of rubber or elastic.

Goring my competition with maddened joy, I watched the beautiful crimson sail through the air in awe. My bloodlust spurring me to slaughter more and more.

It was my art. My canvas was the earth and the sky, and I stained both red under the scorching sun.

Cries and wails from the battlefield played in my ear like a melody. They excited me. They spurred me to work harder, to ascend to greater heights.

I listened to the cries of the dumb beasts. Some stared at me with fear in their eyes.

 _Yes! Fear me!_

A wave of fire chakra wrapped into a blazing ball approached me, but I slapped it aside with the flick of a wrist. It turned back towards the crowd of animals, and managed to strike a barrel strapped to the back of a grisly beast.

The Barrel erupted into flame and force. A shockwave knocked over many of the close combatants, but even so, a liquid-like flame engrossed over the unfortunate that were in even closer proximity.

Burnt flesh chard and still sizzling where blown about the battlefield. The smell was so putrid I was sure it could cause paint to curl. It harassed and assaulted my nostrils.

I was disturbed. Disturbed that despite the frivolity and unproductivity that was this uncultured violence… that it could appeal to me as much and as deeply as it did. It was chilling.

 _-But as Izuna, I was expected to revel in this carnage was I not? Unleash your inner beast. Who are you hiding it from now?_

Refocusing on the encircling army, I noticed a squirrel, but unlike the others, it was massive - likely 7 feet tall with a rippling chiseled physique.

I recognized it as the one that launched the condensed chakra ball. The one that launched me hundreds of feet like a rag-doll.

 _-But I wasn't done with_ _ **my fun yet.**_

"Your massacre ends here beast!" The gigantic critter bellowed falling onto all fours.

His tail expanded in width and length, it extended ludicrously long launching my way. As it grazed the ground I noticed it rip rock out and cut grooves in the earth.

 _He must have a jutsu similar to Choji's but also is able to harden skin or use a protective barrier._

But there was something else! A sphere of chakra swirled and spun on the tip of the tail.

...It reminded me of a rasengan.

Pillars of earth shot from the ground bending and twisting around my susanoo locking away my mobility.

In surprise, I noticed 20 odd some critters who used a joint earth jutsu trapping me in place.

Try as I might, without limbs my susanoo was not going to be dislodged.

A blare of alarm rang throughout my brain, sparks flying this way and that in an attempt to think my way out of this problem.

My eyes watched in horror as the zooming tail pierced my defense shattering the front of my cage.

I pressed my back against my cages wall.

Waves and droves of blood-thirsty squirrels bum rushed into the cage. Some opponents were intelligent and agile enough to avoid my dead bone pulse.

I pushed lances of bone out from my skeleton, broad slashes of spikes flying under appendages as they swerved and spun their body nimbly around my attacks. All the while more opposition filed and poured into my broken cage.

Droplets squeezed out of my eyes streaming down my face.

 _I couldn't fathom why I was crying in this situation. In this exhilarating state between life and death. I was finally at peace._

Heavens twine unfurled twisting and turning like angered serpents. it spread throughout my cockpit stabbing into the slower combatants while they all were transfixed on my location trying to draw nearer.

Their skeletal system burst blasting fragments like a bomb ripping and shredding the occupants of my cockpit, including myself.

My wounds shriveled in attempt to close, but instead the holes on my body only shrunk marginally. _They couldn't or wouldn't close themselves..._

 _I'm losing blood at an alarming rate._

My body felt cold as my warmth left me through the open holes.

A flash of white trapped me inside my mind. It forced me to watch over numerous of my memories instantaneously.

 _Is this...where I die? Is this where it ends? Can I be happy with the life I've lived?_

The faces of my friends and loved ones appeared like a reminder. A reminder that everyone dies but not everyone lives.

 ** _\- Yoruichi - Ayasha - Tokuma - Neji - Sasuke - Hinata - Lee - Itomi -_**

They reminded us of something important. _That I haven't really lived yet - that I wouldn't give in to the merchant of death._

 _-But he can't buy his way out of my wrath. I won't let him._

The white twine encased my body stopping my blood from hemorrhaging out. My primal brutality begging to be unleashed - however, I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what I wanted to do, only that now was the time for action. That if I couldn't make my stand here - that I couldn't make a stand anywhere.

The air buzzed with distortion. Static popped and ripped the scenery of the sloping valley. The enemies movement crawled to a snails pace. My brain processed my situation at superhuman speed. Movement leaving afterimages of my body.

Sparks of black and white leaked out of the seams of my surrounding reality.

I charged to the commander. The 7 foot tall rodent was locked in my vision. Scanning him up and down, I realized he was too slow to react. My white suit of twine covered everything. I hadn't even needed eye-holes with a tool like the Byakugan. I was a phantom of chaos.

Kicking up dirt, my legs unleashed my stored energy. My muscle fibers tore and groaned in agony - but my focus was razor precise. My eyes fixed on their general - their figure-head.

As if I was fighting a pacifist, the commander didn't strike at me - or even defend himself. My flexed straight hand punctured into the rippled furred chest cavity as if it were butter, and clenching my hand around a warm pulsating shape, my fingers wrapped around it and pulled.

My arm sailed out from the chest of the beast, his pink and spurting heart in my clutches. Surprise flashed in the eyes of the beast before the light faded. Grasping at the hole in his chest, he fell to the ground in slow-motion.

I watched - and watched - and watched.

It felt like it took a minute for him to finally hit the ground.

The buzz and static around me faded. The flow of time seemingly restoring itself.

Looking down to my hand, I felt the organ still trying to beat, the beats coming slower and slower each time.

" **NOOOO! Captain Ryjert!"** A voice called out.

The formation of the army broke down, units scattered this way and that flying a flag of surrender.

Unable to ignore the smell of the combat zone any longer, the contents of my stomach raised to the back of my throat, and unable to fight it back, it shot out of my mouth. The suit's internal warm dampness clung to my skin disgusting me.

 **"But I'm not done!"** I screamed.

I pushed bone out of my forming new limbs wrapping them with the heavenly twine reinforcing it like muscles and joints. Each appendage's end looked like a humongous bone gavel.

" **THEY STILL NEED TO BE JUDGED! - LUCKY ME."** Izuna shrieked.

"What is she?" I heard.

"She's a monster!"

"You can't spell Slaughter without Laughter!" I spat out in bliss.

The air buzzed. Static-like white and black again began fuzzing up my surroundings. Time becoming my bitch that I could play with at my leisure.

 _ **SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT.**_

The noise of snapping bones and wet squishing flesh being pummeled beneath my bone gavels was sweet judgement.

The black and white static caking reality faded again, absolute fatigue weighing me down.

Still trying to run after the dazed or fleeing stragglers, I culled those who remained. Some had been trampled by the masses too crippled to move from the weight of the panicked warriors.

As I passed these immobile casualties, I finished my work, spearing their heads with a lance of bone I gripped in my hand like a trusty saber.

My shoes crunched underneath the grass, and before me was a squirrel curled in the corpses of his brethren. He was rocking back and forth looking at his fallen comrade.

It was my first moment of uncomfort in my actions.

 _Should I spare this animal having already fallen to disparity? Or do I finish him anyways?_

His paws clutched at the nape of the departed.

"How… could God let this happen?"

My mouth pulled into a frown.

 _The rodent wiped at his eyes. The pain inside it - I could see it - I could feel it - I had shown him the truth, that we cannot be connected without pain._

 **"I am your god young squirrel. Remember my name when you reach the afterlife - Izuna."**

He did not fight me, he knew what was coming, but he had been resigned to his fate, his eyes clenched shut tight. I could see the muscles tense fighting to not let them open. I respected this creature from the bottom of my heart. He had achieved what I wanted, to be able to let go of your earthly desires. In a way, I had much to learn from him - but that doesn't change our situation.

The bone stabbed into the skull. Grey-matter and puss-like juice leaked from the cracked head spilling onto the dirt.

I stood and surveyed my surroundings. That was it, everything else fled and scattered.

 _I had won. I was victorious. I was still standing after facing an army._

"-Movement!?" I mumbled jolting to alertness.

A chill rode up my spinal cord making me twitch. I couldn't help but shutter at the discovery.

A white and black creature with two Venus flytrap-like extensions that emerged from its sides enveloping their head and upper body as a shell poked out of the dirt.

 _Z-Zetsu?! What is he doing here?_

Frozen in place, I was squatting at the corpse of the squirrel I had grown some respect for, but all I could think about was this strange unexplained phenomena.

 _How did he get here? How did he know where I was? Why is he here? Was he trying to get me back-up?_

But despite taking the time to go over all these questions in my head, Zetsu never approached me, or moved, and after what felt like an eternity but could have only been a fleeting moment, he disappeared back into the earth whence he came.

 _That was unsettling. That he was just spectating like that? Did Obito set this up? … Did I reinforce my identity as Izuna in his mind?_

My head ached severely. A tinnitus-like ring filled my ears, The foul smell of the battlefield and my throw up I was stewing in from inside the suit was disgusting.

I was numb everywhere. I was tired and fatigued, but if I fell asleep like this, I'm sure something bad would happen. Perhaps I would become septic and become sick. Or the squirrels or some other race would find me while licking my wounds.

Either way, I wandered on faulty footing with several in-tact corpses hanging over my shoulder.

 _A girl's gotta eat._

In a haze, I stumbled upon a rock crevice in the side of a hill. It wasn't so much a cave, as more of a little room hollowed out of the rock. It wasn't quite good enough to camp in for me, So I fumbled around until finding a boulder large enough to clog the entrance so that I could get some rest and recuperation.

Using Chakra to augment my strength paired with the soiled-body suit I still inhabited, I rolled the stone to the entrance of the hollow room with relative ease. Sealing myself inside with just enough of an opening to allow airflow,

Before sending Leon back to the void whence he came, I had him conjure a fire jutsu igniting a dry log I carried with me. The timber caught fire immediately, and I set up some 'Shish Kabobed' squirrel for dinner.

The twine phased out of existence alongside Leon.

(Without Leon to maintain materialism after storing him away.)

 _I had campfire cooked rodent - but at least it was protein._

Before starting to eat, I stripped myself naked and retrieved an already sweat-caked towel from the only classic storage seal I had on my person.

The towel didn't help as much as I might have hoped since much of the blood and filth on me was dried on pretty good, but with my nails I stripped some of it off, and after having the thought to use the towel like a saw and rub the impurities off with friction I was having more success becoming clean.

This process hurt very much due to my injuries. Most of them self inflicted by being the conductor between Leon and the batteries. Blackened bruises in pools beneath the surface of my skin was alarming - but still I lamented my vanity.

I didn't know who I was anymore. Who I became. _Was I Mina - or Izuna?_

The warmth felt wonderful on my exposed skin having finished and moved to curl up next to the fire.

The flickers of light from the erratic nature of the flames caused shadows to curl and elongate on the surrounding walls.

Bringing my hands to my chest - I cupped at my flat chest with frustration and envy.

I had an unhealthy obsession with my body image, but I found it ironic here of all times I would still feel incomplete. That the damage to my body was almost a secondary thought.

 _I'm so dysfunctional..._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I admit I am unsure what the true mechanics of a summoning contract entail.

After taking a day to gather my strength, I departed looking for hints of Dragons, but never found any.

The slope curved upward traveling further inland. The elevation rose bit by bit, and the ground became more and more rocky in my travel.

Jagged peaks cut the sky from their towering position far away in the distance. I could make out faraway shapes in the air zooming around at the summit of the nearest mountain.

So that's where I set my sights. Without any deliberation, I trudged toward my goal.

The air thinned as elevation became higher. My lungs missed the dense oxygen which up here became more sparse.

At times, I needed to stop entirely just to catch my breath.

I became dizzy often. My stomach refused to settle. Often times I would vomit my food back up during my journey. I lost all appetite but forced the nutrients in for my own good. But of all my alarming symptoms was the erratic rapid pulse of my heart which would sometimes flare up.

The sun blinded me, and I found myself frequently blocking it out of my base-form eyes.

I was running low on water, so I would need to arrive at the bluffs soon.

With hellish determination, I climbed and climbed. The tips of my fingers were torn and calloused by the journey.

After some time, The destination was nearly within reach. Massive birds flocked and dove from the summit. Some were brown, some were pure white, and the others were a mix between the two.

To my surprise, after arriving at the peak, there was a small temple with massive stone columns supporting it from every side. It looked similar to a building of my last world known as the Parthenon.

A whistling sounded in my ears.

A large bird rapidly descended upon me from above.

"Byakugan!"

I raised my arms in defense eyeing the massive swooping bird, but before reaching me, it pulled its body back up into the air from its dive.

Its wingspan couldn't be any less than 10 feet. I stood awed at the animals grace and size.

It was snow-white from the neck up, and brown everywhere else besides its belly which was also white.

 _Wow… Even if I can only have one summoning contract… Maybe I could grudgingly accept this species if there is no trace of dragons. Air superiority was infinitely useful even if I was settling on a bird instead of a legendary idol._

 _If I can only have one summon, I might as well have a toolbox of things I won't naturally have to give me a more diverse arsenal._

Flight was an embodiment of freedom. A way to explore the third dimension of space from which I was still grounded.

I hated my limitations… So much so I spend most of my free time devising ways to surpass them.

A shrill screech rasped out by another nearby bird.

Looking closely, I guessed that these birds were some sort of eagle.

 _ **Heeshhhk**_ \- a hiss came from a bird waddling my way, their piercing acute eyes focused dead on me to leave no question who the hiss was directed at.

"I'd like to speak with whoever's in charge."

The bird unfurled its wings making it appear much bigger while still waddling closer. "You… look… delicious."

Its beak hung open, the tongue swirling around it its mouth never taking his gaze off me.

"I scrape things off my shoe that look more appetizing than you. Don't misunderstand who holds the power here, because it's not you."

Swiftly the bird flapped their stretched wings and shot at me with a gust being pushed down.

Pebbles rolled around and dust was stirred up into the air.

Retrieving Leon from the seal, the familiar heft on my back caused me to shoot a devious grin at the rocketing bird.

My exoskeleton appeared and hardened while I backpedaled

Talons flung and raked the air barely missing me.

It's neck whipped around and it snapped its beak at me - but as its beak opened a white twine manifested inside it's open mouth stretching outside and wrapping around it's beak forcefully holding it still.

The bird shook its head violently in a frenzy, but his effort didn't break heavens twine. Instead it spread down its body wrapping its wings and talons and effectively immobilizing it.

Another bird swooped down diving from the sky at me, and I turned to it hitting it with a mild genjutsu to block all of their senses. The bird spiraled into a tailspin slamming into the ground hard with a thump.

"Aaahhhhhg!" It grunted twitching and writhing in the dirt.

I approached the wrapped up bird, and despite it's fight still left in it, all it could do was realistically jerk around annoyingly.

"I'll kill you! You better… better not…"

"Shhhh… Everythings going to be fine, you can rest on my shoulders like a prize." I said heaving the bird up and balancing its weight on my right shoulder while I held him steady.

Taking steps toward the ancient structure, the bird wasn't going to rest on my shoulders easily, fighting me the entire time.

"Let me down! I am Fellkar - a proud High Wing eagle of the Highflier clan. Set me down this instant!"

I took my stabilizing arm off the bird, letting it roll off my shoulder to the ground.

After it hit the ground, I hoisted it back up onto my shoulder.

"I'll let you fall off from now on. Keep fighting me and you'll get to know the ground well."

The eagle lost most of its fight still left in it after that, acceptingly allowing me to carry him into the parthanon-like building.

Humongous pillars held up the weight of the roof, but the roof looked as if it had seen better times, it had holes and gaps in it down its entire length. Inside, near the center of the interior, large blocks were stacked making many perches.

Six birds all watched me enter and approach the perches holding their kin.

"Hault. Who goes there?" the bird atop the 2nd highest perch screeched.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to point me to where the Dragons have gone?" I asked.

The eagles looked back to each other seemingly communicating without verbal cues with nods of their head and expressions with their wings.

"Dragons? Dragons are long gone. They went extinct more than 150 years ago."

I bit my tongue in frustration. _Really? Well fine, I'm running out of time, these eagles could do quite nicely still._

"That's a shame. Do the High Wing eagle's have a summoner?"

…

The bird from the lowest perch fluttered to the ground before me in an aggressive stance.

"The **Highfliers** do not and never will. We could never submit ourselves to humanity."

I tossed the restrained bird to what I could only assume was a delegate of the eagles.

"You say that like the **High Wing's** and the **Highfliers** aren't the same thing. Could you please indulge my curiosity."

The bird didn't even bother to catch the prisoner I tossed them, instead side-stepping it and letting it fall to the stone floor.

"Really?!" the restrained bird spat from the floor probably upset at his mistreatment.

"... No. The Highflier clan left the rest of the High Wing's society. Our rivals the Talonspears allied with a human a century ago, so we broke away and colonized this summit to represent our freedom. We will never submit to a human."

"Well you're in luck. I'm no longer in the breath of humanity. I've ascended to greater heights and will continue soaring ever higher. I will become nothing short of a god. I will become your summoner - and you will become my silver trophy."

An errie silence fell as I watched the astonished faces of the birds morph into disgust.

"Impossible. We would never let a wingless creature reign over us."

"-WE DON'T NEED A SUMMONER!" Another bird cried.

"How do you select a leader? What goes into becoming the leader of the Highflier clan?" I asked.

From the highest perch, an elderly eagle descended to the floor in a second. It landed with power and grace. Its eyelashes looked more like whiskers extending a foot off its head in both directions

The bird had bulging muscles, but was more compact in size in comparison to all the other nearby eagles. He was a mix of snow-white and apathetic sagely grey in color.

"You dare dishonor the Highfliers?" Chakra bled out radiating from the elder eagle in a wave of pressure surprising me. "Such talk is worthy of execution."

The strength of the bird was no joke, so much so it made me question my original approach.

 _Should I have been less domineering? Eh? Probably not - they already said they'd never accept a human summoner - So it was always going to be an up-hill battle._

"I think you misunderstood me. I said that I am going to become a god. You think you can execute me? Never. I am a legendary spirit reincarnated in the form of a human. Don't let my appearance fool you - I will become your summoner… So again I ask - How do you determine your leader?"

The elder eagle's gaze didn't waver, in fact it projected a monstrous strength that I doubted I understood.

 _Hold your ground. Just hold your ground, don't force a battle - not unless its unavoidable._

My legs felt numb from flexing them tightly to stop them from shaking. My heart beat faster inside my chest. Thump - Thump - Thump.

"Ehhehhehh," The elder cackled. "I lead through example. I lead with my wings. This is why no wingless creatures can ever stand above us. They could never lead by example - with what wings?"

"So - As this clans defacto patriarch, All I need to do is out fly you and everyone will accept me as your summoner?"

"... You talk as if this is possible. You will never out fly me. I feel sorry for whatever notions are inside your head, but instead of trying to correct that with speech, perhaps an example is in order?"

Gasps resounded from the surrounding birds. The rest of the birds fluttered down to the floor in hushed murmurs and odd expressions through their wings.

 _What? Are they hostile now?_

"Please… join us outside." The elder spoke while filing out of the building with his kin.

Unsure what exactly was going on, I followed his instructions wearily trailing behind from an acceptable distance.

Crunch of talons disturbing and displacing rock played in my ears. All else was silent.

They waddled to the bluff of a cliff, approaching the very edge.

I neared the bluff with a healthy dose of suspicion, but unwilling to sacrifice my opportunity to gain this clan as my summoning contract - I joined them.

A birdbath was right next to the cliff. It was filled with thick black goop, but the elder bird dipped the tip of one of his wings into the black sludge.

"Many young and learning chicks leap from this cliff and fall to their death every year. Many Seasoned flyers over the years have attempted the challenge known to all of us as 'The King of the Sky.'"

"The King of the Sky?" I repeated flashing a look of confusion.

The elder eyed me, then lowered his head gazing down the cliff into a deep valley.

"The king of the Sky - A competition where we leap from the summit - an ink stained wing - and fall diving to the depths of the valley. Do you see the Redwood below human? The single enormous tree?"

Peering through my byakugan, I focused my vision on the grand tree which couldn't be any less than a thousand feet tall, but the summit to the bottom of the valley had to be more than 6 thousand feet, so the tree as big as it had to be looked small in comparison.

"Yes. I see it clearly."

"We dive to the base of the tree, and mark it at the lowest point you can without touching the ground. Now watch."

The elder swan dived from the peak, not even opening his wings. He bulleted towards the ground, but still refrained from opening his wings…

 _Already halfway!?_

He fell further and further, until my Byakugan noticed the wings open ever so slightly. Riding the breeze, his trajectory started spiraling.

My eyes strained to maintain a lock on him, my focus blurring occasionally.

He spun and weaved around the many spreading branches of the tree expertly, falling further and further.

My heart thumped in my chest.

 _Will he mess up? Will he smack the ground during this demonstration of his grace!_

At the seemingly last moment, his wings shot open, and with a half turn, he marked the tree trunk.

After making contact with the tree, his body curved upwards and he took all his downward and forward momentum up instead. With heavy flaps of his wings he shot higher and higher.

"Wow…"

My stomach tightened and jerked.

 _That… was beautiful._

A much slower bird with some measuring device trailed behind the elder slowly, coming to a stop at the base of the tree. The elder with unreal pace shot up out of the valley over us loiding his status of King of the Sky.

"Honestly… Could you ever hope to beat me?" The bird cried.

The straggling eagle flapped up and out of the valley at a crawling pace compared to the elder.

 _ **Woosh - Woosh - Wooshh**_ the flap of wings rung out from the elder hovering mid-air.

After some time, the other eagle too crowned out of the valley, landing on the edge of the bluff.

"94 centimeters from the ground."

 _94 Centimeters?! That's not even 3 feet from the ground. Diving 6000 some feet and having to play chicken with the ground within 3 feet before pulling up?... what is that? like 0.5% or less margin of error? Am I feeling lucky?!_

I gaped indignantly at the elder finding a new sense of respect for them.

"That's… amazing!" I said before I could stop myself. "So you dive to the depths of this valley, mark the tree, and the lowest notch becomes your leader?"

The elder landed before me.

"It accounts for everything that is important to us. Eyesight - Speed - Arial mastery - and Bravery. These are our core values and beliefs we instill to the entirety of the clan." He said drawing nearer. "Do you still think you can become our summoner feeble landjockey?"

My eyebrows scrunched together as I contemplated everything I had learned.

"Can I prepare for the contest before hand? Can I practice?"

It glared down at me, a fiery competitors flame burning behind the grey irises.

"Ehhehhehh. How does a land-jockey plan on practicing?"

"Well - as far as the rules goes - What I understand is that a wing must mark the tree, and you must not touch the ground. Are those all the rules?"

The Elder stepped back eyeing me curiously. "You must dive into the hole in the canopy of the tree. Did you see where I entered? That is the stipulation you are missing."

My mouth fell open, and again I turned back to the cliff to gaze at the canopy of the tree.

 _So many twisting branches down it's length meant that opening a pair of wings inside it would be disastrous - and not only that, but you would accelerate making the timing to pull up and not die harder… What an interesting and frightening challenge._

"Alright. Is there any rule that says I can't use a mount?"

"While there are no rules preventing you from riding on a mount, your mount cannot have any saddle or any 3rd party straps holding you in. We value freedom over all, and couldn't accept someone who needs a contraption in order to assist them in flight."

I rubbed my chin and noticed the binded eagle… _uh? Fellkar I think his name was_ \- Being carried out by two other birds.

"Fellkar!?" I half shouted - half asked running up to it.

Eyes filled to the brim with rage stared back at mine, but it didn't matter, I would make it up to him in a small way. I would let him choose.

"Listen, I know we got off to a rocky start-"

"-I refuse."

"-Wha? You don't even know what I'm going to ask yet!"

"Well whatever it is, the answer is the same."

"Unfortunate. The question was, who is your least favorite among the clan. It can hardly be answered with a resounding 'No' Wouldn't you agree?"

I dissolved his tethers freeing him.

"... Is that all? You want to know who I hate the most? Is this some trick?"

"No trick. I want you to tell me who you like the least, and I will make sure they will not have a fun time - only exception is you can't say the leader of your clan."

"3rd in command - Lieutenant General - Mooshmoosh."

I nodded to Fellkar acknowledging his response.

"Good," I said turning to the eagle in mention. " Lieutenant General Mooshmoosh, I'll make you my mount."

A reddened glow glinted back from his sharp eyes - the connection established unlocking his motor functions at my command.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Reviewer Question: - Do you miss my Comment section where I respond to your questions?** _(I'm trying to decide whether I want to keep doing it, and these last 2 updates I put up were so strapped thin on time from when I planned to post that I dropped it to make the update more timely. If you guys miss my responses to your questions, speak up and let me know.)_

…


	34. Chapter 30

**Article 34 - Chapter 30 - Inhuman Achievement**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-**

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 **A/N: WOW 500 FOLLOWERS - I LOVE YOU GUYS. So you all might have thought i died or something the way I fell off the grid for so long, which I'm sorry for. Truthfully I've left my job in search of something different. I've been trying to find alternate money making methods and slaving to build something to feed my passion. I wish I could write stories like this full time for you readers, but I can't think of a reasonable way to monetize it and doubt I have enough of a following to do it regardless. As soon as I can find a stable revenue stream you all can expect more consistent updates. Without further ado, here is the latest chapter!**

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┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

"No trick. I want you to tell me who you like the least, and I will make sure they will not have a fun time - only exception is you can't say the leader of your clan."

"3rd in command - Lieutenant General - Mooshmoosh."

I nodded to Fellkar acknowledging his response.

"Good," I said turning to the eagle in mention. " Lieutenant General Mooshmoosh, I'll make you my mount."

A reddened glow glinted back from his sharp eyes - the connection established unlocking his motor functions at my command.

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┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 30 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

Mooshmoosh followed my cognitive command bowing his head to me.

 _ **Heh!**_

I sensed the bodies around me tighten. Anxiety radiating in the air seeing an established Highflier with a role of leadership bow their head before me.

The sagely elder bird's eyes were locked on me indefinitely. I could feel the radiating bloodlust in the surrounding air. An intensifying pressure looking to crush me or at least make me collapse to the ground.

My knee's wobbled and buckled but I refused to allow myself to display my weakness, I strained to remain upright in defiance of the elders attempt.

The tidal wave of pressure kept increasing, trying to coerce me to fall. I enhanced the density of my skeletal system more than 10-fold just to remain standing, and I'm honestly unsure whether it would be enough if he continued persisting.

"You told me I'm allowed to use a mount did you not? Are you actually afraid of being usurped?"

"..."

The other birds in our vicinity were unable to hold their posture besides the highest ranking Highflier officials. Even Fellkar, whose unrestrained, had their face buried into the ground.

"Elder, are you not a competitor? Don't you wish for a worthy challenger or do you wish to passively hold your role of leadership?"

"... You still claim to be a legendary spirit trapped in the body of a human? Then fine. We will test your mettle and see how long your outrageous claims can persist."

The pressure subsided releasing a great weight from my body.

"Spirit or no spirit, you will learn your place. You might be something special landjocky, but the title 'King of the Sky' will forever be out of your reach even riding a seasoned flier such as Mooshmoosh."

A silent sigh of relief escaped my lips.

The tides have changed.

 _He wouldn't look to outright obliterate me with his power, but instead give me a fair chance at his contest. It wouldn't come down to crude violence but of strategy and skill in the sky._

"-But If you use anymore of your genjutsu tricks on anyone else of my clan when unwarranted, I will end you immediately. It infringes on our collective belief of freedom, so count yourself blessed I've spared you so far after your repeated blatant disrespect."

 _ **BLESSED?!**_

"Yes, Well-errr, thank you Elder." I said with a nod of my head.

 _You're wrong. I'm not 'blessed' at all, but how could you even begin to understand my circumstances?_

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

After needing to show appropriate respect to the clan and it's master, I was allowed to finally start with my training.

Retrieving my stopwatch from my belongings, I was again reminded of its dysfunctional state.

I desperately wanted someone I could confide my deepest darkest secrets hidden in the corner recesses of my brain. Someone who wouldn't judge me based solely on my decisions, but only listen.

 _It would be glorious to have someone like that..._

A forceful nudge at my hip broke my focus allowing me to remember what was more important. Training to complete the challenge before Hiashi-sama returns from his latest excursion to find me missing.

My personal anxiety has been building ever since my arrival in the summoning realm. I've been put on the clock, and the results had better come or else there will be no way to return within my allotted time.

Fellkar's wing kept being shoved into me with his boisterous laughter overpowering my thoughts.

"Again, Again! Please one more time!" He cheered.

I squeezed the rubber tubing squirting a stream of water into the face of the bird once again.

" **HAW-HAW-HAWWW! THIS IS THE FUCKIN' BEST. I COULD WATCH THIS ALL DAY!"**

I didn't really get the birds infatuation with me hosing down my mount, but I surmised his genuine joy of the spectacle came from some sick sense of vengeance - and I understood vengeance.

"Okay, you've had your fun. I need to actually train." I said becoming more stern as I finished. "Think you can you give me the basics of flight and aerial maneuvers?"

The bird giddily hopped around stretching out his wings.

"First things first, you must understand how to land. Landing takes practice."

"Landing? How can I practice landing if I barely understand flight?" I asked.

"Easy, find a platform to jump off. We got different training platforms the hatchlings use you could borrow. Pretty sure the lowest is a 5 meter, then a 10 meter, and finally a 25 meter." He said contently.

 _Wow… He's become a lot more open with me ever since I've made a mockery of his enemy at his request. Bonding over mutual dislikes can be more effective than bonding over interests given the individual i suppose._

We journeyed over to the training platforms which were fairly vacant besides a mother with her hatchlings leaving immediately after spotting us approaching, ushering her young infront of her while peering back at us.

I hopped onto the back of Mooshmoosh and reined in my focus. I felt my commands being obeyed by the muscles of my mount in responsive harmony.

"The 5 meter is too small for someone of 'HIS' size, so might as well start on the 10 meter platform."

With a nod of acceptance, I commanded Mooshmoosh to make the climb up the platform with relative ease. Once at the top, I looked at the puny drop distance and wondered if I really needed the figurative 'training wheels', but only by this trial could I discover that.

My mount leapt off the platform, and with a faulty flap of his giant wings, the decent slowed. The landing impact displaced me as I gripped the many feathers affixed to the beast's back for stability.

"Eh… not so good. You didn't absorb any of the impact. Bend the knees as you land, and perhaps walk out of it for now."

I felt hot shame at my novice display, but I'll correct it quickly - especially with guided instruction. I wasn't so prideful I wouldn't accept advice, but I was prideful enough that requiring the advice still hurt.

I repeated the jump over and over, ironing out as many unnecessary movements as possible while emphasizing the important ones. It became easier to remain stable atop my mount with deliberate practice.

In no time at all, I stood atop the 25 meter platform looking to better test my fundamentals.

The first jump ended in me being launched off my mount on landing. The cackling laughter of Fellkar eroded my patience. It coaxed my anger to the forefront of my mind, but the anger wouldn't be any good for improvement, so I sourly buried it with the mental note that I'd return the favor to the audacious bird at my next opportunity.

For the time being, I needed to find a way to be certain I wouldn't fall off, so stripping my footwear off my feet by kicking them to the ground, I then binded my feet together with calcified bone so I couldn't be flung from my mount any longer.

I also ensured my handholds were more secure in my grasp before taking the plunge once again.

The gust of upward air and the sinking feeling in my stomach from falling was entirely intoxicating. I understood it as proof that I belonged in the sky. My soul needed the freedom to be carried away. To be taken far far away to broad new horizons. To experience new things without being bogged down with monotonous rules.

 _This is a small taste of the liberating freedom that is flight!_

Mooshmoosh's talons met the earth and my momentum canceled more gracefully than before, however I was jarred around nearly being ejected from my mount had I not locked my feet together.

The basics of landing were finally becoming ingrained in me. My focus wouldn't be swapping between all the fundamental executions, but instead on being comfortable on my mount, which was the bare necessity if I had true hope of becoming the next 'King of the Sky.'

 _This will be a long road of improvement._

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

After numerous hours of adjustments, I finally had enough experience to give flight a real shot.

From the 25 meter platform, I tried to climb over and over. Straining to whip the wings downward to propel myself up in a vicious clumsy cycle. In all honesty, controlling appendages I myself didn't own made it hard to accurately gauge the commands that needed to be sent to my mind slave.

Quickly, I found myself disturbed by my clumsy flight and the difficulty of giving percise commands.

 _Landing practice was in true the best call, because otherwise I'm sure I'd be dead._

 _Imagine being defeated by something as insignificant as gravity. What is gravity in the face of a god? What is gravity compared to my truest hurdle I need to conquer? Being-X._

I hurtled towards the ground but managed to land with enough grace to make up for my terrible entry.

Dismounting, I hopped to the ground and ferociously slammed my fists into the platform's base.

" **URGGHH!"**

"Woah kid, you look like your about to kill something."

" **Not now!"** I barked.

 _The progress is too fucking slow! This will never work! I won't be able to return at this rate… sealing my fate._

" **FUCKKKKKK!"**

"Why are you so angry you suck? You just started." the bird reprimanded.

I glared at the bird who dared to speak down to me. _Had he forgotten the treatment I'd given him earlier? Perhaps he needed a reminder?_

"Individuals of my species die fairly regularly trying to master the basics of flight. You don't have to rush into it so hard, It'll come with time."

"I don't have time! I just can't visualize how it is to have wings, so my control over his wings-" I said pointing to Mooshmoosh "-Is-is dumpster tier! I'm legit trash!"

The bird eyed me warily, taking his sweet time with his response.

"Hmm… Your a Shinobi are you not? Why not transform into an eagle to feel the difference?"

My jaw dropped as I gaped indignantly at the bird in shock.

 _It was… It was actually brilliant!? Why hadn't I thought of such a simple solution… Wait do I even need a mount if I use the transformation Jutsu?_

In a flash my hands clenched together. _Transform!_

I was nowhere near the size of the two nearby eagles, but my proportions seemed correct in retrospect.

I flexed the muscles along my back and shoulders expecting to flap my wings with strength, but they merely twitched around.

Fellkar burst into mocking laughter yet again watching me struggle. Apparently my failures were quite entertaining.

 _If he hadn't come up with such a useful idea, I'd have wrung his neck by now._

"What are you doing? You don't flap wings from there, you use your chest muscles to flap the wings."

 _Im...actually retarded. It makes so much more sense after thinking about muscle distribution on birds. The breasts are always more pronounced. I've never been so embarrassed…_

I couldn't believe how naive I was. It would have been obvious if the birds I watched had enhanced their muscles with chakra so I could see their flow, but common sense should have been enough for me to figure it out.

 _I'm overthinking it is all. I made it out to be incredibly harder than it was in actuality._

With only that new tidbit of knowledge, I untransformed and hopped back onto my mount determined to take to the sky. Daring to defy gravity as but another hurdle to clear on my path to victory.

I succinctly sent my commands neurally to the beast, their wings tearing through the air with monsterous force. A tempest of wind blew down on the land stirring dust into the air as the reverse feeling of falling welcomed me. The glorious long awaited ascent into the sky I had been dreaming about ever since I'd been trapped in the walls of Konoha was even better than I imagined .

"In this brief moment - I am free."

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Dusk fell like a curtain blocking out the sun. Night was not long off, and I felt massively overexerted from my prolonged consistent use of Leon's Mangekyo Sharingan. My brain was mush merely stored in my skull at this point.

My chakra pathways tingled and itched nonstop, but it was impossible to relieve them with any of the methods I attempted.

I lied on a bale of straw staring into the star encrusted sky contemplating my decisions I had made thus far.

 _Is this really what I want? Am I so stubborn I couldn't ever accept the current's flow? Was it in my nature to fight the current with everything I had? Could I ever truly be happy or do I love torturing myself?_

My brain refused to turn off. No matter what abuse I put it through, it is even more resilient than my resolve.

The crunch of grass played in my ears alerting me of a visitor. _A visitor which I hadn't detected? I couldn't feel their chakra at all._

Turning to look, I saw an eagle approaching, but even as I stared at him, I couldn't sense any chakra.

My skin crawled at the presence he gave off. It was tasteless, odorless, and colorless. Even weak chakra had distinguishing factors, but this eagle gave off none of those things. It is as if he had no chakra whatsoever.

"We finally meet young Shinobi." He announced boldly.

Nervously off-put by my senses' failures, I jolted to my feet while retrieving Leon from the void.

"Woah - Woah there." The white eagle encrusted in ceremonial warpaint exclaimed. "I'm here just to make small talk, no need for all this hostility."

Unconvinced, I remained on guard. I could tell there was something different about this one than the rest. Something special.

"What are your true intentions?" I asked.

"Well, I'm actually your biggest fan."

"You're- what?!" I shrieked.

"Excuse my manners. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm called Hyboren - 2nd in command of the Highflier clan."

My hand tightened together into a death squeeze. "2nd in command? Why would you possibly be a fan of mine?"

" **I've seen something magnificent!** I watched your battle at Verthoalian Plains. I've seen your power and I want your power for the clan. I want you to win. I want to see the face of that old hag as you ground him unlike anyone else can. It's time for the Highfliers to enter a new age, and from the looks of things, you might be my last hope."

I couldn't believe my ears. _No I wouldn't. This has to be some sort of trick._

"I have no idea what your talking about."

"You called yourself the legendary Izuna, did you not? The Talonspears summoner went to battle against the Uchiha's some time ago, and there were only two ever from the Uchiha's who were revered as shinobi gods. Their power capable of obliterating entire civilizations. Tell me I'm wrong, Tell me your not the spirit of Izuna Uchiha."

"Unbelievable. It seems my reputation precedes me even now." The words spilled out of my mouth without thinking about them. "I can't tell if your a genius or an idiot… You've left yourself exposed… I've seen your hand."

 _This is unthinkable. What am I saying?_

"It wouldn't work trying to deceive you. I've heard all about the sharingan and your prowess with it. There would be no point in lying to you, so instead transparency is my remaining approach."

Looking at the bird, I would guess he was telling the truth. It's fortunate he doesn't know not all the sharingan's abilities are unlocked to me as someone who wields their powers through a puppet. But things are becoming interesting. Perhaps this is where my legend begins. The resurgence of Izuna Uchiha who came back to slay the false god. It's a story they could tell for millenia.

"...I see… Perhaps your not an idiot after all."

"Tell me how I can help, I want to assure your victory."

I clamped my lips shut to be sure Izuna couldn't speak out of turn before I had my chance to think. _This one was all me._

"My flight is still a bit clumsy, but a training partner to measure and compare myself to will expedite the process."

"-Say no more. You may measure yourself against me whenever you need, and I'll gladly reveal all of Elder Willyzakk's secrets and strategies for the contest. I couldn't make full use of them in order to pull out a win, but if anyone can I trust you can."

"I see, that's wonderful news Hyboren. You've placed your faith in the right place. It appears I can't afford to fail now that my name is on the line."

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Twilight's arrival signaled a new dawn.

I remembered a quote from a previous teacher from my last life _"Seize the day"_ which roughly translates to _"Each new day must be lived to the fullest."_

The fresh dew coating the ground stunk of the essence of earth. The wet hey I found myself laying in was but a temporary lodging. I would achieve greatness and command respect, it's all I've ever strived for, and all I've ever needed.

Groggily I yawned thinking of my odd dream. It was fantastical but ended in tragedy. I dreamt of my future, and I witnessed my demise.

Even in my dying breaths, my words inside my dream were carved deeply into my memory. Etched into my brain so they couldn't be easily forgotten.

" _I need for success like I need for Oxygen. I yearn for achievement like I yearn for nourishment. I expect excellence because without it I would be another leaf blown about by the whims of destiny..._

 _I must become the author of my own fate. My pen will determine my destiny. My effort will yield results or I'll die... reaching for my dreams like anyone smart enough to take charge of their fate."_

It was odd… Chilling…

 _It was me… It felt like me… but it wasn't. Maybe I had transcended into something else. I would never willingly forfeit my life after all… So why? Why do I feel like this vision was something more than a dream. Why do I believe I'm capable of self-sacrifice when all evidence contradicts it…_

"I'm beginning to think i'm the greatest hazard to myself. I'm terrified… of what I might become. I'm terrified that everything I've ever worked for will just be meaningless in the end. It's my greatest fear; my darkest terror..." I whispered clutching at my burning head.

Gradually, my headache dissipated, blending into normality.

 _The more I learned, the more I came to understand how little I knew. How little I truly comprehended._

"David Dunning would be scolding me for my impertinence. My cognitive bias needed this amending. It's so easy to fall into the Dunning–Kruger effect when you lack wisdom, which is why gaining knowledge should be my top priority, not power alone. Knowledge that is applicable is power all the same."

I'd had enough laying about. Lying still made my skin crawl, It was time for me to make progress toward my goals.

I dragged my aching body over to the bluffs, the sun reflecting off the Micca embedded down the cliffside shining like gemstones.

Taking a deep breath, the oxygen filling my lungs gave me strength to persevere.

It was the first time I'd be ballsy enough to dive from the cliff. To put it all on the line.

Straddling my mount and peering down into the valley, the hairs on my neck stood at attention. The blood in my veins coarsed in energized excitement. My stomach couldn't settle, I was sure it's impatience would cause it to fly out of my mouth. Like myself, it couldn't wait to take the plunge.

"Here goes something!" I shrieked.

With a single flap of Mooshmoosh's mighty wings, I was propelled off the edge of the embankment into the vast space known as the open sky.

 _...Thousands of feet below separates me from the earth._

"This is it! This is what I've been waiting for!"

I couldn't help it. My innocent girlish laughter escaped, but I didn't care. I was having way too great of a time to restrain myself.

Leaning forward, The bird went into a nosedive rapidly accelerating. My gut sunk and felt heavy. The wind harassing me the entire way, but my grin widened through all of it.

Pulling back up with strong flaps, We went back into ascension. The mix of rising and falling, of traveling so freely was the single greatest feeling of any of my lifes. It felt better than accumulating power, It felt better than feeding my bloodlust, and it felt better than being recognized for my achievements.

When I was up here, nothing else mattered. I was in my own world with only me, myself, and I. It was wholesomely therapeutic.

My loose articles of clothing where whipped around in a frenzy, the chilling air lowering my body temperature, but I wouldn't be stopped by anything so trivial. I wanted to keep going… faster… Higher…

 _I hope I don't end up like Icarus, the man grounded for reaching too high. My goals may be lofty, but I'll try my best to mind my arrogance…_

"I say that, but how could challenging a god be anything but arrogance. Oh well, I guess you can say humanity will never know its place. We were born to hope, and I'm no different no matter how much I wish it wasn't true."

The air screeched in my ears, sonic shockwaves booming past.

Turning, I saw none other than the bird who visited me the previous night, Hyboren.

His body folded and muscled himself through the sky alongside me at a blinding speed.

"Seems your getting the hang of things. Are you ready for some competition?"

"I was born ready to compete!" I screamed, the air sweeping away my vocals into the backdraft.

"Wonderful, let's dive to the bottom of the tree, avoid the canopy this time till later though."

I didn't need to be told twice, I pulled my mount into another nosedive. I didn't want to play it safe, I had a need for speed. A desire to test the limits of my ability.

 _I could die at anytime, which means I need to live free with no regrets! NO CONSTRAINTS!_

I was feeling like an idiotic daredevil, but it felt so good to let go. So I did - Figuratively and literally.

My restrained feet locked together kept me from flying off my mount even as my hands let go. I held my arms up as if I was still a thrill seeking teen at an amusement park.

 _The rollercoaster that is life should be enjoyed!_

I bellowed into the sky without fear. My mask was nowhere to be found, for a brief moment, I could be everything I was unabashedly.

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Over the passing days, I evaluated the differences between my technique and Hyboren's. I learned a lot from mere deducement, but his personalized evaluations and tips only served to escalate my progress into unthinkable margins.

Where I had once been upset for my lack of progression, I was genuinely amazed at how proficient I was becoming.

I learned an incredible amount in such little time, and before I knew it, the time for the contest was upon me.

The "King of the Sky" Contest was evidently the most anticipated spectator event for these birds, as the crowd turnout was actually insane, and each of the birds wore headbands in a display of support for Elder Willzyakk.

The claps of wings and dust being stirred up by the spectators seated both in the stands along the bluffs, and the stands deep along the valley floor helped me realize the gravity of this contest. I knew this little competition meant alot, but being able to experience it was an entirely different beast. My respect for their culture grew several magnitudes in this brief moment.

3 officials greeted me as I entered the painted circle was the waiting area in breathing distance of the gray stone birdbath filled to the brim with black sludge. I looked around, but I theorized it was the Elder's right as the challenged to make his appearance last.

I waited in the circle, eyes all upon me. I could tell by their glances that none of them believed I could win. Their clan pride and firm trust in their leaders might was self-evident.

To them, it wasn't a contest, but a display. They expect to see their leader in earnest while having the chance to laugh and mock me. I bet they believe it's arrogance for me to think I could win.

But I would have to fervently disagree, because where they saw arrogance, I saw confidence. They were looking down on me because of their ignorance. My game plan was in my opinion unprecedented. It was tailored to my strengths, and I couldn't find a reason to distrust my belief in myself.

This was something I rehearsed over a thousand times. This was just another repetition to add to my belt. A checkpoint on my road to success.

Shrill cries of the spectators began to run rampant. Turning to the building, I saw the familiar figure exit, strolling casually down the pathway all while his people cheered his name shouting for his victory.

The earth trembled and pebbles rolled from the rampaging supporters.

"THE TRUE KING OF THE SKY!" I heard from the crowd.

"EASY CLAP."

 _EASY CLAP?! I think your in for a rude awakening._

I couldn't help but adopting a cocky smile in such a situation.

 _This will be the making of a true underdog story! I gotta' win... No! ~ I'll win for sure!_

Watching the elder casually walk down the pathway made my teeth clench together.

 _He looks so frickin' regal. Like a king, but I'll strip it away from him! I can't be intimidated, victory is all I can afford!_

The sagely bird arrived at my side, stepping into his own encircled area.

"The 118th 'King of the Sky' contest is set to begin! Put your wings together for our champion! **Elder Willzyakk!** " One of the officials bellowed into a cone amplifying their voice for all around to hear.

"Are you prepared to fail Landjocky?" The sage mocked.

"Are you ready to kneel before me after I win?"

Annoyance flashed on the elders face but was quickly replaced with calm apathy.

"You are the cockiest little shit I've had the pleasure of destroying publicly. Thank you for making this enjoyable." He said dipping his wing into the stone sludge basin.

Watching this, I quickly mimicked his action with Mooshmoosh's left wing's tip.

Two of the three officials overseeing the event kicked up and dove from the summit.

 _Byakugan!_

My eyes trace them ride the current all the way to the base of the tree. Their flight mechanics where wholesomely unimpressive.

"The champion is given the decision of picking who will go first." The remaining official bellowed into the amplification cone.

"Lets see what the monkey has in store for us!" He said nudging me forward.

 _He… wants me to go first? Fine, I'll crush all your hopes right here, right now!_

"You may begin when you are ready challenger!"

Jeers rose from the crowd paired with hearty laughter.

Taking a deep breath and gaining my bearings, I squeezed my legs around my mount harder while he stepped forward edging to the bluff's end.

My sharp vision cut deep into the valley marking my target - the gap in the tree's canopy.

I formed calcified bone along my mounts wings. Making them both heavier and more resilient for the upcoming trial.

I was deadly calm. I couldn't feel my heartbeat. My blood froze in place. Every movement of Mooshmoosh's felt accentuated and refined. No doubt my control was at an all-time peak performance.

Leaning forward, I heard the talons rake the ground and I toppled forward off the edge. The wind sailing past my face whipping at me in a frenzy. I made myself smaller on the back of the mount to improve aerodynamics.

The violent whistling of air passing my ears stirred my heart. It finally kicked it into motion.

 _ **Thump - Thump - Thump**_

I commanded Mooshmoosh to open his wings slightly, the action causing us to spin and spiral downward like a shooting bullet.

Chakra flowed through chakra strings into Leon still mounted on my back.

"I've got one shot, gotta make this count!"

My surroundings sparked with black and white static. The blitzing spinning surroundings slowed to a halting crawl. Leafs and branches past me as I avoided them with refined ease.

 _This is clockwork._

My reactions to dodge and weave through the tree's obstacles were supercharged making short work of them.

 _Halfway… I was halfway through the tree._

Time passed slower and slower. Far slower than I intended to my surprise.

 _Perhaps my power even exceeds my own expectations!_

I slowed… _and slowed_ … until I was only inching forward.

I felt the depletion of my chakra and it worried me. If this pace was maintained, I might run out before I even reach the tree's base!

Desperately I tried accelerating time faster. Again and again I sent the command to Leon without success.

 _WHAT IS HAPPENING?! OBEY ME LEON!_

Over and over I sent the command, but I still merely inched downward at a snail's pace.

The Branches around me sprung to life, snapping like ferocious whips, ensnaring me, and impaling through my appendages.

I watched in horrified shock at the wood speared through my hands, arms, and even my mount. My mounts wings were punctured full of holes.

" **Your disrespect WAS your end!"** I heard.

The voice was unmistakable.

"URRRRRRRRGGHGHGHH!" I screamed calling upon my susanoo.

 _Being-X will never get the better of me again!_ _ **NEVER!**_

The surroundings grayed being robbed of color, but a golden hue ignited from around me radiating the shimmering glow. It painted everything around me, which had all been robbed of color, a glorious gold.

Magnificent skeletal bones wrapped around me severing the wood hold entombing me. The divine coffin intended to be my final resting place was shattered instead by the susanoo manifested in full around me.

With time still in the severe slow mode, the tree bent and splintered jarring to life. The branches fought to penetrate my susanoo's weakpoint - from below.

All my focus was spent on the singular goal of survival. My effort poured into building my susanoo into an impenetrable shield. The only place in this world that can be my safe haven from the monstrous deity Being-X.

A shimmering Golden relic phased into the hands of my susanoo in manifestation of my hopes and dreams.

A brilliantly conceived Kiteshield capable of repelling even heaven's rage.

With all the strength I could muster, I challenged the demonic tree's might in earnest, blocking the barrage of lively branches from invading my defensive shell. Limbs were severed from the tree quickly robbed of their animation and lost their tremendous speed within the hacked space-time I was being subjected to, being pulled to the ground by gravity at a snail's pace.

I myself could barely move, and would be defenseless if not for my Susanoo moving without any limitations. The one limitation for how fast it could move it was how fast my brain could command it. As such, It was a magnificent tool to combat the shitty god.

" **STOP RESISTING ALREADY - I AM INEVITABLE!"**

"NEVER! I'll oppose you with every second of my life you shitty false god! I WILL BE THE VICTOR!"

" **NONSENSE - YOU WILL DIE!"**

My Byakugan could see the chakra inhabiting the tree; traveling through every branch as it continued its aggressive assault.

A silver twine phased into reality digging into the tree giving me access to it's chakra bolstering the Susanoo into an even greater threat. The size more than quintupled in a flash, the arms wrapping around the tree, bark splintering and being ripped from the humongous organism all the while.

My necklace around my neck began glowing a bright blinding blue. Chakra was being sucked out of all the surroundings - The tree, my susanoo, and even me.

" **MY GLORIOUS MIRACLE WILL BE THE END OF YOU! THIS IS DIVINE JUDGEMENT!"**

Orbs of chakra flew into it as if it were a black hole trying to swallow all energy in existence.

 _ **NO! It can't end like this! WHAT CAN I DO?!**_

Unable to act, my body froze, my mind was blank, everything ceased to function, I was paralysed by my building fear.

"NOT YET!" Izuna screamed. "NOT FUCKING YET!"

The glowing pendant which encircled my neck vanished into the void. My seal swallowing it into a different dimension.

The Chakra all around me stopped being funneled into the missing pendant. It would seem everything around me returned to normal despite the chakra which had already gone missing.

I merged my chakra with that of the tree, giving it the command to turn to bone.

White calcium spikes ripped through the tree giving it a new hellish appearance.

" **IMPOSSIBLE!?"**

"I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BEING-X! YOU LET ME BECOME TOO STRONG. YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO BULLY ME AGAIN!"

" **HUMANITY WILL NOT LOOK DOWN ON A GOD!"**

The bone protrusions from the tree were stripped from my control, extending and encasing my susanoo.

My chakra pathways screamed with agony, but it wasn't the time to throw in the towel. Now was the time to mount a counterattack with everything I had.

Burrowing to the core of the tree, Heavens twine reached the well of chakra. With all of my strength, I pulled the chakra into Heavens twine and funneled it into my system.

My body couldn't handle the sea of chakra. My capillaries began rupturing and spilling chakra out of me. I created as much Heaven's Twine as I could even as raw chakra continued to pour out of my body.

I needed to use all of it! I couldn't let any Chakra remain or it would be used against me!

Heavens twine encased the entire tree growing like a parasitic plant over the tree until every last drop of chakra was exhausted, and the tree turned a deathly black.

Time began moving faster and faster as my mount sped towards the ground.

my Susanoo dispelled itself because of low chakra reserves, as well as my control of Mooshmoosh vanished.

The bird convulsed trying to jar me from his back, but I held on for dear life.

"Mooshmoosh, We are competing in the "King of the Sky~"

The bird bent and folded awkwardly trying to fling me from him, until his talons raked over my legs cutting them clean off.

The pain was unimaginable.

I had been effectively removed from the bird as I approached the ground face-first.

Izuna brought my hands together without a moment to even think.

"TRANSFORM!"

Adopting the form of Hyboren,but with smaller proportions, all while still under the influence of time distortion but I felt it quickly fading, so I extended my wings.

 _I have to mark… no how can I possibly mark the tree?!_

In an absolute panic, I improvised my lack of black sludge instead with my dripping squirting blood applying it with a wing as I turned, narrowly avoiding the ground and marking the tree with a crimson line.

 _I can't touch the ground… I have to make it back to the cliff…_

I flapped my wings ferociously climbing further into the air, but the entire world started spinning. I felt faint and nauseous. My vision blurred.

 _Just… gotta… make it back…_

But i couldn't hold it any-longer… My eyes shut and I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Hyboren POV)**

"Your trying to rob her of her achievement on some technicality?!"

The officials crowded together in a hushed murmur before separating and glancing back to me.

"The rules state that she needed to mark the tree with cerimonial ink, yet instead she used blood. This alone disqualifies her attempt."

 _This was unbelievable. In the wake of what everyone just witnessed, they were more adhered to the rules than the works?_

"What about the foundation our clan strives for? Eyesight - Speed - Arial mastery - and Bravery, she's shown all these traits in abundance! It's unthinkable you would disqualify her after considering this!"

The squeak of the rusted door hinge played in my ears forcing me to acknowledge the new visitor.

The master of the clan, Elder Willzyaak entered the dormitory with pained eyes.

"Elder, surely you can't call that your victory! Even in spite of whatever the hell happened, she managed a new record surpassing any of our best attempts in our clan's history. 19 centimeters is certainly unprecedented!"

"Even if we accept her method of marking the tree, she didn't finish, you caught her and interfered with the sacred contest Hyboren."

"You can't even be honest with yourself. Admit it! Your terrified of her! So what if she's a spirit of one of the shinobi god's who ravaged our clan. The past slaughter had more to do with our old allegiances than anything else! The Talonspear's mistake wasn't accepting a Summoner, it was accepting a summoner at odds with the Uchiha's"

"Terrified? Elder?! Ridiculous, besides a groundling is unfit to be 'King of the Sky'" The official said.

"No… Heathcliff, Hyborne is correct. I am terrified of her. We all should be, it's a testament of intelligence to fear such a being. We should let 'it' perrish and cover up the entire thing."

My eyesight shook, my inner turmoil couldn't be underplayed any longer.

"COWARD! You've aged into a complacent fool! We as a clan are declining. We don't receive the same respect or hold the influence we had in past years. We are falling behind because of our stubbornness and once we finally have someone who is worthy to be our summoner, you'd rather do nothing and let them die?!"

The insides of my mouth began salivating, and I spit it into the face of the elder without hesitation.

The Elder bolted forward with their beak open - headed directly for my neck. With a swipe of my wings, I gained enough space to avoid imminent death, but a talon carved open my flesh.

"Shut your trap half-blood! It's no shock you'd be willing to forsake our traditions so easily, your treacherous origins must be the cause of this!" He squawked.

"I won't let you run our clan into the ground because your brain has spoiled faster than your body!"

A burst of ferocious attacks were exchanged in the elders favor, but It wouldn't stop my honest evaluations.

"We need a Summoner, and we will not find one who is more worthy. Please Reconsider!"

"You suggest we treat someone who is not our own at our clans sacred geyser, AND that I forfeit my role as master of the clan to some uncultured landjocky? It's clear you were never a real Highflier. Your Talonspear blood makes it easy to discard our principals at the first chance. I'll see that your exiled! You hear me!?"

"Fine! But before you can finalize my Exile, I challenge you to one last bout. Let's see if you can hold your undefeated record after being bested by a landjockey! Everyone knows she won, and I'll make sure your disgraced for trying to bury it after I win."

"The tree is in no shape for another contest yet, I-"

"-Your a disgrace. Did you shit out all your Courage Willzyakk? You don't have any left do you?"

"SILENCE! - Fine, you want one last bout? I'll give it to you. We'll schedule it in two days at daybreak."

"No - It has to be now. If not, Izuna will die and the bout will be meaningless. The landjocky represents the hope of our clan, and you won't have your way! She won't die without you beating me first."

"I should have eaten you when you first hatched. I knew what you were and hid it from the rest of the clan ~ finally I see, it's my greatest mistake."

"Your greatest mistake was expecting to win off a technicality. There is no pride in such an undeserved win, and I'll make sure of it you old fogey."

"You've never beaten me before, and you will never beat me in the future now either. After your exiled, you won't even get the chance when I am decrepit. You'll be a loser for the rest of your pitiful life ~ just like your father."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"Who's the loser now?!" I screeched in victory.

"Im-Impossible…" The elder gasped.

The official nodded in affirmation.

"Hyboren is the new 'King of the Sky,' Everyone acknowledge our new clan master - Champion Hyboren."

"As your new master, I declare Izuna as our new summoner, and grant them access to our sacred holy geyser."

The birds around me were silent, unsure what to make of the new pecking order and my judgment.

"Lilac and Mariel, please bring the summoner to the geyser to be treated."

I watched my big tittied concubines carry away the summoner to our clans most hallowed area.

I wiped the imaginary sweat from my head, relieved I wouldn't be exiled anymore, and that I wouldn't be separated from my flock - The most beautiful harem of the land. It was unthinkable I would put it all at risk over a land jockey, but someone had to do something or nothing would ever change.

I ushered over the judgement official quickly, whispering to them to inform them of my 2nd decree as the clan master.

"WHAT? ARE YOU SURE?" He replied.

"Absolutely ~ no question."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

 _Am I… dead again?_

I wasn't sure, all I knew was the black abyss around me was familiar.

 _I...lost… Being-X is no doubt celebrating… Life is the worst. We're written into existence to tapdance at the command of some pretentious child with a god complex. My only regret is... I wish I could have made a bigger dent… I wanted to see 'god' bleed after all._

" **Not yet…"** I heard.

The voice was sweet and feminine. Unlike the shitty god i had come to know.

A warm sensation spread over me. It woke me to my humanity. The sensations told me I was still alive in some sense; that my fight wasn't quite over.

With all my might, I struggled to call upon my strength, but nothing happened.

" **She seems to be conscious!"**

 _What? Of Course I'm conscious, but where was I? Is this the Afterlife of Naruto's world? Did that shitty god actually leave me alone after all it's sickening despicable interference?_

" **The body is recovering. It seems it can even hold chakra again! Quick we need a medic-nin!"**

 _Am I… alive after all? Can I be sure this isn't some joke? A last chance to shatter my hope? A final parting profane middle finger to me to prove the difference between humanity and divinity?_

" **Don't let her die damnit!"** A masculine voice shouted.

It was a voice I recognized… The eagle who was 2nd in command, Vice General Hyboren.

The warmth enveloping around me was be channeled inside my body, and for the first time I could feel it. I could feel my body.

A bright white light blinded me as I opened my eyes, and water shot into my lungs as I struggled to sit up.

" **Careful! Stay still Summoner, We are healing you."**

Choking on the liquid which found its way into my lungs, my body reflexively coughed trying to rid the irritant and clenched my eyes shut again.

 _ **Summoner?**_ _I won? After all that, I still won!?_

I couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true. _This must be a dream. A figment of my imagination before death._

I waited for death, waited to be informed of the joke. Expected to be greeted with Being-X's voice because he loved to show up when he was least wanted.

But it never came…

After some time, I tried opening my eyes again, to be greeted by the vision of several female eagles who were hovering over me in curiosity.

"She's awake Hyboren!"

"Wonderful." I heard the familiar voice reply.

Sitting up, I noticed the bandages covering my entire body.

 _I look like a corpse preparing to be mummified._

Quickly, I flexed where my feet should be, and I was relieved to see wiggling toes and swaying feet.

"Izuna, pleased to see you up and about."

"Wha? What happened?" I questioned.

"You completed the challenge. You are our clan's new Master, and hold the title of 'King of the Sky.'"

"ofcourse?" I responded unsure.

The females in the room flashed looks of secrecy to each other confusing me further.

"Indeed you did. Congratulations on your victory, but that being said… what happened to you out there? It was like... the tree tried to destroy you."

I guess now's the only time I could reasonably get this off my chest. I could finally share the truth with somebody.

"I am at war with a divine entity. It knows no honor, only prejudice. It wants to destroy me and watch all humans suffer for nothing but its own amusement, but I can't stand the thought of it continuing to succeed."

A flash of surprise and worry spread across Hyboren's face at my statement.

"The god of death feels cheated by your return huh? Since you're our master, it seems we need to best _Death_ together?"

"You… believe me?" I asked in shocked sincerity.

"It makes sense. How else would you return back to life? You must have triumphed over death at least once, so we just have to keep winning right?"

With a weak smile, I nodded my head.

"Death is a mere toddler with great power. Continued victory over him will become easier everyday. In time I will slay 'it' and replace 'it' as a new god."

"-so that's what you meant when you told the Elder you would become a god?"

"Exactly." I agreed.

"... Remarkable, truly remarkable. **HEHEHEHEHE!** Ahh, I knew trusting in you was the right decision. I knew it!"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Reviewer Question: - What is your favorite Naruto Fanfiction, and what about it makes it your favorite?** (Mine? I have a lot of favorites, but the most standout would probably be **"** **A World Full of Monsters"** because it has great character development while also indulging my dark power fantasy.)

…


	35. Chapter 31

**Article 35 - Chapter 31 - Gone with the Wind**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

"I am at war with a divine entity. It knows no honor, only prejudice. It wants to destroy me and watch all humans suffer for nothing but its own amusement, but I can't stand the thought of it continuing to succeed."

A flash of surprise and worry spread across Hyboren's face at my statement.

"The god of death feels cheated by your return huh? Since you're our master, it seems we need to best _Death_ together?"

"You… believe me?" I asked in shocked sincerity.

"It makes sense. How else would you return back to life? You must have triumphed over death at least once, so we just have to keep winning right?"

With a weak smile, I nodded my head.

"Death is a mere toddler with great power. Continued victory over him will become easier everyday. In time I will slay 'it' and replace 'it' as a new god."

"-so that's what you meant when you told the Elder you would become a god?"

"Exactly." I agreed.

"... Remarkable, truly remarkable. **HEHEHEHEHE!** Ahh, I knew trusting in you was the right decision. I knew it!"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 31 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

It seemed after my last encounter with Being-X, I lost my gift of Chakra sense earned from overcoming my chakra hypersensitivity. It was only truly useful when my Byakugan weren't active so it wasn't too detrimental, but I was curious as to why I lost the ability. I was unsure if it was temporary or permanent, but I guess only time could tell.

My bone ripped through my thumb giving me access to my blood. Without delay I pressed it into the parchment finalizing our newfound contract.

The contract's ink reacted to my blood immediately, turning a cyan blue while streaming light out. It was as if the characters on the page were cut-outs, effectively a negative, and the contract was laid on top of a projector.

The characters mirrored shone on the ceiling of my new clan's headquarters. Many of the clan didn't seem to accept me immediately, but I'd have plenty of time to change their minds about me, to demonstrate my value.

 _They'd come around eventually._

"With that, the ritual is complete!" Hyboren announced.

"Why did you do it instead of the Elder?"

"Erm- well, your victory was… so awe inspiring that I too challenged Elder Willzyakk to the contest soon after you, and achieved my first win over him. He must have been devastated by his loss to you - yes."

My vision narrowed. The bullshit alarm in my head was blaring, but I couldn't be asked to figure out why. If he didn't want to tell me right now, he probably has a reason, and I should leave it at that.

"...I see." Was all I could manage with a straight face.

Scanning my surroundings, I took in the sight of all the clan members I had gained from this contract. When they were clustered together like this, it was even more impressive than when I saw them cheering in the stands.

"Hyboren, I wish to address my clan."

A loud Squawk burst out reverberating off the stone walls turning out to be a deafening nightmare. The birds who were restless and rowdy fell to the ground in a respectful bow deathly still and silent.

 _Wow… Quite effective!_ I thought while giving my adugent a thumbs up of approval behind my back.

Scanning over the faces, and allowing this moment of silence to build anticipation, I wanted to read the individuals. I wanted to understand what it meant to be the Clanmaster, and how else better than learning about them.

" I understand some of you may have your doubts ~ you question whether I am fit to lead you…" I said pausing, watching the recognition in manies eye's at the truth of my words. "It's only sensible to come to this conclusion, because you have known nothing else. I have come to understand the history behind your clan, your pride as the mighty Highfliers whom combated the other prominent clans without a summoner all this time, who have achieved so much on your own."

Coughing to clear my throat, I readied myself for my next words.

"You are all _**greedy**_ and _ **prideful ~ insatiable**_ creatures."

Sparks of animosity spread throughout the room after the realization of my words.

"Yes, but I'm here to tell you your greed and pride are nothing compared to MINE. Victory and Success? They are delicacies, but I know no restraint. I WANT THEM ALL! I will lead all of you to glory, power, and wisdom. I will not rest until our clan is feared from every corner of this world. Until we're given the due respect worthy of the Highfliers."

The crowds morale which had started dipping did a 180. Eye's lit with understanding and hope stared back at me.

 _This is it! I know what they want, They want the same thing as me. Of course they do._

"I swear by my title _'King of the Sky'_ , and on my spirit's name: Izuna Uchiha, That I will do everything in my power to bestow all of you with your carnal desires. YOU ARE NOW MY FAMILY, MY BLOOD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? STAND WITH ME BRETHREN AS WE ENTER A NEW AGE. SEND YOUR VERY PRAYERS IN MY NAME UNTIL YOU WANT FOR NOTHING MORE ~ WHICH SEEMS UNLIKELY AS I KNOW WE ARE THE SAME ~ **GREEDY - PRIDEFUL - INSATIABLE CREATURES!** "

The roar of the crowd as they all rose from their bows shook the very foundation of the building.

A hearty harmonized chant began in my adoptive name: **"IZUNA! IZUNA! IZUNA!"**

Unable to hold it back any further, my wicked grin slipped past my guard.

 _Excellent! I was right to pick 'them' as my summons. A perfect fit._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

With my contract finalized, I'm ready to return to the village.

Before I took my leave, I left my clan with only one new rule for them, that in the presence of anyone outside the clan or in the outside world, they must use my mortal name - _Mina Hyuga_.

 _This is a surprise though -_ I thought. As much as I hated the idea of inking my body, I now had a permanent tattoo for ease of access of the contract.

 _I probably wouldn't have ever gotten a tattoo in my past life, but then again tattoos didn't have groundbreaking possibilities did they? If they could have helped in my survival or sporting performance, I doubt I'd have hesitated even a moment. I'd have leapt at the opportunity with open arms._

 _The worlds are so different. And even as rough as this life has been, I'd never have gotten the chance to humiliate Being-X in the ways I'm capable here. All the sorrow and anguish are worth it and I'm sure I'll have even more shots to humble it._

The symbol representing our bond was none other than two detailed crossed wings with a sword at the forefront of the piece. A bit gaudy in my opinion, but the art decision wasn't left up to me.

Rubbing a trail of my blood on the tattoo, the reverse summoning process began. The surrounding reality bent and tore. My body was sucked through space, the eerie noises played like a distorted recording of metal scraping a chalkboard while a complete spectrum of colors blurred past at a blinding speed.

Ejected to the dirt, I fell recognizing my newfound surroundings as the same area I attempted the summoning jutsu to begin with.

The blades of grass tickled at my skin, the cool breeze through the tree's calling back the nostalgia despite not having been gone more than 5 whole days.

 _But 5 whole days… It was much longer than I had expected. I hope there are not significant ramifications for my actions._

With no time to spare on procrastinating any further, My legs hastily carried me to my destination, the Hyuga compound.

As I got closer and closer to my residence, my heart grew heavy. Guilt weighed me down as flashbacks of my last encounter with Tokuma played in my brain.

 _He's probably worried sick…_

Slipping past several of my clanmates trying not to be noticed at the compound's gate and taking the route least likely to have me encountering clan members, I rushed towards my home

Reaching the door to the house I decided I should at least check and see if Tokuma was inside, and since I lost my Chakra sense, Byakugan was my only tool to scout.

 _Byakugan!_

My vision shifted, but reverted back instantaneously.

"… Wha?"

Upset at such a novice mistake for someone of my caliber, I focused harder and provided extra chakra to ensure the justu's success.

An x-ray overlay flicked over my detailed vision. Straining I could make out an the expected man inside the home.

Gulping as I reached for the door, I knew that I'd have to answer for my absence and accept responsibility.

 _Release._ The extra visual information vanished from my senses.

The handle felt cool to the touch, my body freezing in place as I squeezed it.

 _Calm down idiot. Everythings going to be fine._

I slid it open with extra strength than I intended causing the door to crash against the built in stopper with much more noise than I would have liked.

The familiar masculine figure shot into the hallway from the living room, his face visually brightening. In no time flat, I was swept off my feet into his arms, his forehead nuzzling into me like a hyperactive canine reuniting with it's master.

"Mina… Thank god you are safe!" He exclaimed tears welling in his eyes. His lips quivered staring at me in disbelief as if I were a mirage and if he looked away I would be gone.

He pulled me tighter into his chest, into his embrace, and I figured I wasn't in a position to oppose his will, so tightening my legs around his back, I gave him what I suspected he wanted - all the affection he could handle.

"I'm… I'm so sorry Tokuma."

"Shh-shh-shh baby girl. It's alright okay? Everything is fine now that I've got you back."

 _Baby girl? Well… I suppose I can make an exception this one time._

Being in such close proximity, I noticed the absence of the usual smell of alcohol on his breath.

"W-What-" He started before choking. "What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry for making you worry…"

"That's not an answer young lady."

 _The truth would need to come out eventually_ I reasoned.

"I performed the summoning Jutsu, but I was sucked into the summoning world instead of bringing one here."

An astonished gasp found its way into my ear, his arms wrapping me in tighter. "You… Reverse summoned yourself…"

"Yeah! I ended up dropping right next to eagle territory. They were really nice and I competed in a contest of theirs and won earning a summoning contract."

"Do you realize how dangerous that was? You have no idea just how lucky you are to be alive right now!" The volume of his voice rising. "I-I don't know what I would have done if you never came back. Please can you talk to me! Tell me what's going on in your head so I can set you straight before you jump into these insane things all on your own!"

The guilt was killing me. I knew exactly what kind of damage this would do to him, and all the same I did it. I knew and I did it anyways.

 _Even with everything I know now… I still woulda gone through with it… I'm such scum._

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to worry you so much. I never expected to be ripped away from home, and for so long at that." I lied.

Tokuma finally released his deathgrip on me, shooting me a curious look. "Who in the world taught you such a dangerous jutsu!? Where did you learn it?"

"Self discovery. I watched Kakashi-sensei do the hand signs and I've been experimenting to figure out how to initialize the jutsu for the past 6 months."

"You managed to execute the jutsu with only the hand signs? Well I suppose you've become adept at copying jutsu's with your Byakugan, not to mention you seem to have quite the intuition for these things. But that doesn't excuse this, you can never do anything like this again!"

"I said I was sorry! If there is a dangerous jutsu I want to copy I'll come to you next time."

"Mina… do you understand just how lucky you are? I don't think you comprehend the scope of what's happened to you."

 _Ofcourse I know, but I need to play ignorant because no one in my position would do what I've done with perfect knowledge if they didn't have my trump card._

I shook my head no trying to give him a strong look of confusion.

"With your current skills, I would say your chance of survival coming back from a reverse summoning was 0.5% or lower. If you did it 200 times, you might have survived once."

 _Really? Were my odds really that low? I knew it was risky but he's accounting for my skill, not the average ninja's. I figured without Leon I'd still have a 5% chance. Is he underestimating me?_

"Hiashi-sama returned two days ago and has been informed of your disappearance. We must inform him of your safety at once, lets go." He said tugging my arm roughly while slipping an overcoat.

 _No… This part might be even worse..._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"Tokuma-san, please excuse yourself." A stern voice cut into the silence.

"As you wish Hiashi-sama"

Before exiting for good, my parental figure turned around giving me a concerned look and mouthing words quickly at me.

 _We'll..talk..later? Oof, no doubt he's still upset at me._

The door closed behind Tokuma, trapping me alone in the room with the clan's patriarch.

"I can explain." I said while gaining my bearings.

"I already know everything, but go ahead." He said with a scowl.

 _Everything? Surely he's bluffing._

Stepping forward and straightening my back to befit a member of the Hyuga, I stared determined to gleam what he had already discovered as I talked. "I ended up reverse summoning myself to the summoning realm and gaining an original contract. I know my actions were reckless and my success rate was low and have since been informed of the stupidity of my actions, but on the bright side, my actions will bring more prestige to our clan."

Slamming his fist on the desk, the crunch of splintering wood made me wince.

"HOW DARE YOU PRETEND YOU DID THIS FOR THE GOOD OF YOUR CLAN! DO YOU THINK OUR CLAN IS A JOKE? DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO THINK WE CAN'T CONTAIN A SIMPLE ACADEMY STUDENT?!"

 _This wasn't right. Shouldn't he have been happy at this news?! Why is he so pissed?_

"Sir?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb and mock me further. You know damn well what you've done. You made a mockery of our clans traditions and security. You broke into the clan master's archives and stole the summoning scroll. Everything you've done you've done for yourself - so stop pretending you did it under any other pretenses."

 _How does he-_

"If this gets out I'll be a mockery! No! ~ Our entire clan's name will be a mockery. Don't bother to deny it, after returning, we discovered the traces of the reverse summon and I confirmed the scroll was missing myself. I swept it under the rug thinking you'd never return, but here you are in the flesh," he finished before raising his voice into a bloodcurdling scream. " WELL? WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!"

"I-I-uh… It's exactly as you said Hiashi-sama. I broke into the clan archives in order to find the rest of the secrets of the summoning Jutsu, but I would never spread that information publicly."

"And the fire in the compound, that was your doing wasn't it? Your nothing but an agent of chaos. I should execute you here and now. Do you think you are wiser than me GIRL?"

"No sir, I don't think-"

Hiashi burst into maddened laughter cutting me off. " _YOU DON'T THINK?!_ I'm astounded at your newfound honesty, but is your brain only useful for scheming? Maybe it can't function properly?"

He gripped at his hair in his frenzy. Goosebumps broke out across my body at his display of madness.

"I'd cut you down right now! You hear me? I'd cut you down if only people wouldn't ask questions, you've been a thorn in my ass from your very conception. You were a mistake. Of Course you'd turn out this way having inherited the madness of the Kaguya." He said in a darkened voice. "...But perhaps you can still be useful. As clan-master it's my responsibility to best utilize my subjects is it not? So I will extend you an offer you can't refuse. This little problem we seem to have, we will both forget it ever happened, never to reach the light of day. It WILL die with us, here and now."

"..."

"This mercy will be extended to you for the price of needing to fulfill your promise of silence and an additional 5 personal requests which will be kept off all records and not tied to the clan without issue or question redeemable at any time of my choosing. If you are caught during any of these, you will be expected to take responsibility for your actions yourself and will not receive assistance from the clan. Do you accept these terms Mina Hyuga?" He finished by flopping backwards into his chair glaring at me with a ferocious intensity.

"I...If you permanently remove me from Hinata-hime's body guard duty, I will graciously accept your offer."

The glass pitcher full of water and ice clanked as he picked it up by the handle. Rearing his arm back, he launched it across the room. Ducking down, I avoided it, the pitcher impacting the bookshelf behind me shattering into innumerable pieces.

"You think your in a position to make demands?!" He said standing to his feet practically huffing. "Fine, as of today you are removed from my daughter's protective duty, but you'll be doing 6 favors for me now, Understood?"

"I accept your terms Hiashi-sama."

"Good. Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

With the afternoon winding down, I was more tired and fatigued than normal. It was only understandable as hard as I've been pushing myself lately, so after deciding to neglect my training for this one day, I returned to my humble home.

Trying to sneak up the stairs unnoticed was woefully unsuccessful. A tug on my shirt from behind nearly made me jump out of my skin.

 _People_ _ **really**_ _have an easier time sneaking up on me without my Chakra sense._

Spinning around, I faced Tokuma, who held out his hand expectantly to me. Acknowledging his request and reaching out to him, he grasped my hand tugging me down, through the living room, and finally into the kitchen where he stopped and took a knee.

"I have something I want to show you." He said.

A spark of curiosity lit inside me wondering what he could mean.

"Mina... I'm not going to lie, I haven't been the best father to you, and I apologize from the depths of my heart. I realize it's been real tough - _for both of us_ \- but that's no excuse for all this. Now that we've only got each other to rely on, we need to be even more dependant on the other."

"You… need me?" I questioned.

"More than you'll ever know, which is why-" He said pulling the pantry cabinet open with his free hand. "I've thrown out all the alcohol I own. I know that I've shown you that crutches are acceptable, but from now on when I need help, I'll come to you instead, not the bottle, I know your a smart cookie and reliable to boot. All I ask is when you need help, you come to me, okay honey? We're family after all, and we're gunna get through this together - you and me. We don't need anything else, right?"

My throat tightened realizing what he meant.

"I'm... sorry…" I struggled.

"No more I'm sorries. No more secrets. I'm your dad now, and it's high time I start acting like it."

My neck leaned back, helping me get a better view at this man's face I have known for some time now. A goofy smile plastered across it... all to put my heart at ease.

 _He… he wasn't so bad. But unfortunately I've already fallen too far for your rope to save me… It can't reach the bottom of the void. It's my destiny to leave the village behind._

My heart fluttered as if to argue with my reasoning.

 _I know this! yet... still my heart protests? What is this all of a sudden? Do I want to leap into his arms? Why?_

Gritting my teeth and clenching a fist, I held myself back with all my willpower.

 _This is not a time to be weak! Giving him the illusion of a family and then ripping it away would be more heartless than keeping my distance - would it not?_

"For better or worse your stuck with me, so we might as well make the best of it right?" He said, tears trickling down his rosey cheeks.

 _My self-control… has it gone with the wind?_

I found myself selfishly crash into the man, sobbing like a blundering idiot. My slender hands cupping at his shoulders from beneath his arms. I pulled myself into his warm security. His hold on me delicate yet strong.

"Who's to say you won't leave me all alone like everyone else?"

"I won't be so easy to get rid of, I've got something worth fighting for you see?" He said squeezing my thigh.

 _It was an empty consolation, but I've grown from the person I used to be. I've learned to just accept whats infront of me in the moment and worry about everything else as the time comes._

"I can't bear to be miserable all the time, so I will treasure you as you are… daddy." My cheeks got hot as those words left my lips. This was the first time I ever addressed Tokuma as such a vulnerable and embarrassing title.

His stupid grin only widened after hearing that. I could tell this was what he wanted, what he craved. What he's been waiting for all this time - for someone to love him in Ayasha's absence, especially if it was me, Ayasha's daughter.

 _Ayasha-san, I'll take better care of Tokuma for you ~ in your loving memory. I must be losing my grip on reality… But maybe that's not such a bad thing after all._

"Sit down with me." He said ushering me to the table where paper was placed side by side.

He took the seat further inward where one of the papers were laid out patting the seat beside him, the outside chair. Taking the hint and quickly sitting beside him, I looked down at the paper to find the text: _Mina Hyuga's Will._

Shooting the man a disbelieving glance, he frowned but sternly nodded to me. "You understand how close you were to death do you not? How dangerous our line of work can be? It's about time you came to terms with your own mortality. Maybe you won't be so reckless if you make a will with me that shows you what you stand to lose."

 _He wants me to make a will?!_

"I - uhh…"

"If you died tomorrow, where would all your possessions go? What arrangements or last requests would you want carried out? The world doesn't stop if you stop living. This might shock you, but the world doesn't revolve around you Mina. You need to understand how you've impacted the lives of others and what your legacy will be. How will you be remembered?"

I could only stare indignantly at the man at a complete loss of words.

"Sit here and think about it with me. As long as it takes, I'll be here."

 _I must have really scared him if he's willing to go this far… The anxiety of parenthood - huh?_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

My feet flew down the stairwell in haste. I had somehow overslept even though I went to bed last night early.

 _12 hours!? What am I a log? A sloth?_

Slinging my equipment onto my back, I shoved the door open and slammed it behind me.

Scurrying my way around, I came to the designated meeting point I visited yesterday. From the distance, The flag which I raised the night before was no longer visible. My footfalls stalled as I came face to face with an individual in a black robe whose face was hidden behind a ceremonial mask.

"Third-sama has been awaiting your arrival _Silverwing_." He said while tossing me a cloak and mask of my own.

"Then by all means, lead the way."

Looking down at my rental, I questioned if there were some hidden significance or if it were just universal irony at work.

 _A squirrel mask huh?_ I thought with a smirk.

The journey was quiet and uneventful. We arrived at the Hokage's office, and once inside, I stripped the mask off my face.

The man sitting behind the desk sat upright with an aura of command and power surrounding him. His eyes razor sharp penetrating through me in evaluation.

"You are here. There is much we must discuss."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

In the end, I kept my promise to Hiashi, favoring to exclude the details of raiding the clan archives for a multitude of reasons. I didn't know for sure if the most prevalent reason was my own self-interest or out of loyalty to my vow, but either way I kept my word, and in the end that's all that mattered.

Replacing the mask on my face, I exited the room with my anbu chaperone into the hallway. My eyes were pulled to the black spectacles of one of my substitute sensei's. He was pulling a cart stacked no less than 2 feet high with hardcover books and literature along with a look of excitement.

"Your studies are progressing faster than I anticipated. With my instructions you will certainly surpass even your grandfather."

A short child was waddling behind the instructor's cart with a look of disinterest instead favoring to stare out the window. The kid's hair was dark brown and messily unkempt.

"Ebisu-sensei, don't you think electricity is wonderful?"

Unable to peel my eyes off the kid, I questioned if this was really Konohamaru or if Hiruzen somehow had a 2nd grandchild I hadn't heard about. Last I remembered - Konohamaru was a bit of a ditz and hated instruction... or was that all an act after meeting Naruto?

 _With 'Talk no Jutsu' Naruto's idiocy might actually be contagious! All the more reason to be glad I managed to worm my way out of his class._

Quickly exiting the building, I decided I couldn't hold off on my training anymore. After returning back to the rendezvous point and returning my borrowed gear to visit the Hokage in secret, I headed for my typical training ground.

Training was my one therapy and place of happiness where I could sharpen myself and strive for personal mastery. Nothing is ever all good though, although training myself is where I'm the happiest, but there is no denying the flip side of things - that it brings out some of my underlying toxicity.

Striving for perfection with the precognition that I would never reach it. To sweat, bleed, and exhaust myself in an endless loop. It would bring me closer to my goal but never to achieve it.

 _I must be a masochist… My favorite activity in my life is basically meaningless in the end, but the fact its unachievable is what makes it so desirable. Perhaps it truly is the human imperative to strive for what is unattainable. It's Adam and Eve's forbidden fruit that religious scripture of my last world spoke of. Proof humans are defective - but even if true, who made us this way? If we are creations of god made in his image, what does that say about our god?_

Arriving at my typical training area, I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt exposing my tattoo to the boggy afternoon air. Bone spiked through a fingertip at my command and I ran the bloodied finger down the length of my inked skin before performing the necessary hand signs.

The seal springing to action along with feeding it my chakra, I imagined calling forth Hyboren from my imagination. A blue hued luminescent glow radiated from the seal and a puff of smoke materialized.

The smoke dissipating, my eyes laid upon a young eagle to my annoyance.

"Can i do anything fucking right?"

"Master Izuna? You summoned me?" The adolescent brown bird chirped.

"Mina! Mind our location!"

Letting out a sigh, I accepted my own ineptitude realizing that it might take a while to learn to retrieve the correct summon at my whim,

 _I can't ride this one, it's too small._

"My apologies! I didn't mean to-" It started before I cut it off with the wave of my hand silencing it where it stood.

"It's fine, just don't forget again." I said watching the bird nod in understanding. "Do you know any ninjutsu?"

A light sparked inside the animal's eyes as he spoke up: "Yes, my mother has taught me several of her wind jutsu so-"

"-Wonderful. Stand 10 meters back and aim them at me with the intent to kill. Don't worry, I'll deflect them all."

Cultivating chakra into my hands, the glow of the gentle fist accumulated by oozing into place with abnormal viscosity, taking longer than usual to channel.

Minutes flew by as I deflected and repeled the chakra based attacked with more difficulty than it should have taken. Eventually I found myself on my knees panting for air and lightheaded.

"I just… need a little break is all." I gasped.

Leaning back and sprawling out on the ground, I knew something wasn't right with me.

I became winded in training far too easily, my chakra feels sluggish and harder to control, I'm less recovered after rest and sleep far longer than normal. Lastly, I even lost my chakra sense ability. Something was happening to my body but I couldn't understand what it was.

 _Is it puberty? Perhaps I'm sick?_ Those questions swirled around in my brain.

Foliage from beside me rustled with movement, making me raise my guard, and rolling to my feet at the ready.

Past the shrubs, the identifiable black hair and stoic eyes of the legacy of the Uchiha clan popped out into the open

"Sasuke!" I blurted out.

"How insensitive. You didn't even bother to invite me?"

His voice was cold with indifference, but I knew him too well to not read into what was going on behind the scenes. No doubt he was worried about me.

Tokuma did mention he visited our residence twice while I was away. _To walk into the heart of the Uchiha's greatest rival's clan in just to ask about me… it was a sweet gesture._

He no doubt was bathed in worse stares than even I get. The fact he would do that is a testament to his value and dependence on our relationship.

"I'm… not feeling 100 percent to be honest. I should be up to speed in no time though, it's nothing to worry your little head about."

His eyes were getting sharper by the day. It seemed every time I saw him he could uncover more about me from a glance. That less of me was shrouded safely behind my facade.

 _It's going to be increasingly dangerous to keep secrets from him. He's not stupid, I bet he can tell something isn't right even now..._

"So… I hear you are the youngest person since the establishment of the Hidden Leaf to earn a summoning contract. Is this one of your summons?" He leaned his head sideways motioning at the bird.

"Yeah. I earned a contract with the Highflier Eagles. Are you impressed or something?"

He held his composure while folding his arms into his chest. "Yeah? I unlocked the 2nd Tomoe of my sharingan while you were away. I looked through my clans records and I'm the 5th youngest in my clans history to do so."

"Wow. Seems we're both getting stronger. If we keep up this rate, we might be able to get our revenge after graduation."

"No…" He said hanging his head.

"Hmm?"

"I'm not progressing fast enough. Even with all my hate and passion, It isn't enough." he said looking down to his arms.

Following his eyes with my own, I noticed evidence of rope burns around his wrists.

"What happened there?" I said pointing to the broken and inflamed skin.

"I told you I unlocked my second tomoe. You don't think I managed that doing push ups did you?" Turning away as he finished his sentence.

I can't tell if im positively or negatively affecting Sasuke at the moment. _He's certainly much stronger than he was at this age in cannon, but now he's also even more hungry and reckless… That will make him harder to control and maintain unless I'm the only one who can feed his power fantasy. Unless I'm the only one he can trust._

"...So can I join you?" He asked.

I brought my hands together releasing my summon back to their home - Mount Kitagari.

 _I can't let Sasuke see how weak I am. I'll call it quits for the day and try again tomorrow. I'm sure I can do better tomorrow._

"Actually I'm done for the day. I was hoping I could come over to your compound and hang out for the rest of the day." I said nearing and bumping shoulders with him playfully.

"Who would want _you_ showing up to their home?" Bumping me back with a smirk.

"The lonely Uchiha boy who visited my house twice if I heard correctly."

His cheeks pinkened while he cleared his throat in a theatrical manner. "I have no idea what your talking about."

"Sure you don't ~ loser." I said bumping into him again.

"Hn, Brat ~ just invite yourself over then why don't you." He retorted slamming his shoulder into mine harder.

"Admit it, you want me to come over."

"Hn." he huffed with a shrug. "Who knows."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Sasuke POV)**

Leading the way into my late families home, I slid the door shut behind the girl who all but forced herself into my residence.

"Don't touch anything." I said.

"This place… is disgusting. Don't you ever clean up after yourself?"

Taking the opportunity to acknowledge her statement, it dawned on me how messy and disorderly I let the place become. Dirty plates and glasses were stacked in the sink overspilling clearly visible from the entrance. My worn laundry was heaped and piled in the corner of the room. All my training and educational resources were spread out on the livingroom table open to the last place I was reading for ease of access.

Having it pointed out to me by anyone else wouldn't have mattered as it wasn't any of their damned business, but the fact it was _her_ did make me feel a slight bit of shame.

 _Why is everything different when it comes to her?_

"I didn't know I was going to have any visitors. Lay off."

Without hesitation, she walked into the kitchen and turned the faucet handle causing a stream of water to shoot into the sink.

"What are you doing? I told you not to touch anything." I said slapping her hand away from the sink and turning the water off.

"Stop, I can't deal with this mess. I'll graciously help you clean, no thanks necessary."

She went to reach back for the faucet handle, but stomping a foot into the ground I made her pause and grabbed her attention before pointing back to the common room. "I can clean by myself. You - sit down over there and relax for a minute."

"Your soo stubborn, you know that? But I'm worse, I'm helping and there's nothing you can do about it ~ so there."

My face grew hot thinking that she had to take care of me. _Damnit - I can do it by myself - I just put it off a bit because there are more important things at hand is all_.

"I'm perfectly capable of-"

"AND I'M PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF HELPING. So shut up and take your loss with grace loser."

Gritting my teeth, my shame rose an extra level. "Spoiled Brat. You always find a way to get what you want, don't you?"

Joining me at my side in front of the sink, she bumped her hips into mine and grinned a malicious smile.

 _There was no defense against her! If she wanted to walk all over me their wasn't a way to stop her. I wouldn't ever admit it to her face, but that strength of will was one of her best qualities. She always made her own decisions no matter what anyone else had to say about it. Its admirable ~ well for a girl at least._

Turning on the faucet, she and I knocked out all the dishes with haste. I was tasked with drying and putting them up due to the simple logic that she didn't know where they went. And so that's how she weasled her way into helping me clean my house.

"No - Don't touch those. I left them that way so I can find my place as fast as possible."

Watching her shoot me a confused glance, she accepted my reasoning and instead of shutting and organizing my resources, she plopped down on the couch instead.

"That makes sense and all. But I mean, you could just use bookmarks like a normal person, but you do you I guess."

Sitting down in the wooden chair next to the couch I buried my face in a hand out of compulsion.

"So… what was the summoning realm like?"

Turning her neck to peer at me sideways while laying on the couch, she let a victorious smile slip across her face. "What was your training like?"

"I asked you first!" raising my voice of annoyance.

"...Hey Sasuke… there's something I need to tell you." She said in a hushed tone.

"Yeah? Does it have anything to do with the question I asked?"

"It doesn't, but-"

"Then I don't want to hear it." I said folding my arms together.

"... it can't wait."

Her deadly serious tone made my blood run cold. Whatever it was she wanted to say, I now knew it was serious.

She sat up staring into my eyes, and patted the cushion of the couch beside her.

Unsure how to respond, I only stared at her, trying to understand what was happening. Trying to predict what this was going to be about.

Her eyes' narrowed and she patted the couch harder leaving no room to question her. I felt like a dog at her beck and call, but what else could I do when she looked at me like that?

 _I have to know._

Planting myself beside her, she leaned into me, her breath hot on my ear.

"I overheard something I shouldn't have." she whispered.

 _What was it?! Was it something I said?_

"I understand this stuff might be hard to believe, but I need you to listen to everything ~ okay? Promise me."

 _What's with her tone? Is this about her mother's death? What else could have her so grim?_

"Hn."

"-Promise me!" She demanded.

"Okay fine - I promise, happy?"

She didn't acknowledge my response, instead she searched my eyes eerily.

"Itachi slaughtered your clan. You already know this, but what you don't know is a man named Danzo orchestrated it all."

The back of my neck tightened and I found myself unable to draw breath. My temple throbbed alerting me to my rising heartbeat. The room around me faded, draining of color, until the only thing that I could see was the lips of the Hyuga prodigy moving.

 _Danzo… Village Elder… Had to stop the Uchiha's Coup d'état… Ordered … Extermination… NO THIS CAN'T BE RIGHT! I MUST HAVE MISREAD HER LIPS!_

"NO! IT WAS ALL ITACHI ~ DON'T LIE ~~" I shrieked.

Her hand popped out of nowhere cupping my mouth shut.

"Shh-shh-shh. I wasn't supposed to hear this, and I know they don't want you to know, but I have to tell you anyway."

I fought to shake my head free of her grasp, but she had a surprisingly firm hold and wouldn't let me loose.

"Sasuke - You're an avenger like me. To us, truth is the most precious commodity there is. Are you going to listen to me or not? You promised!"

Recalling my words to her, I couldn't continue acting so childish, I had given her my word I'd at least hear her out. So I nodded displaying all the understanding I could muster all while tears spilled down my cheeks.

"You clan was planning to overthrow the system of power in the village and claim it for themselves. They had it all planned out and everything, but Itachi decided the village was more important than his clan. He hated violence and didn't want to see a revolution between his family and his village. He made the ultimate sacrifice by killing all the Uchiha with the exception of you because you were his most special connection. He got Danzo's permission to keep you alive and negotiated your protection and took the brunt of the responsibility for the clan's massacre all on himself. I don't know if any of the other village elders were involved, but the hokage has to at least know what happened and helped sweep it under the rug and bury it, all to save face for the village."

"...Impossible. That can't be! My brother is the heartless murderer. **I know he is!** He just - just wanted me to hate him so I could get stronger and be a challenge for him."

"What I'm telling you is the truth. Itachi might have committed to the plan, but he did it out of love for the village and a lack of better alternatives."

My blood ran hot. My teeth felt like they might break from the pressure of my jaw pressing them together.

"How would you know?! **HUH? - How would you know anything about this?!** "

"The eagles had an artifact they called 'The observation orb' - and with it, you can peer into an area and see and hear it like you were there. I was playing around with it, and I spied inside the Hokage's office where he and the man named Danzo were arguing. The majority of the story came out from their mouths, and the rest I pieced together with research."

"They must have tricked you! It can't be real!" I said.

"They didn't know anything about the Uchiha massacre. My summons didn't even know anything about the hidden leaf village or your clan besides that they existed somewhere. I promise everything I've said sofar I know to be true."

"That… can't be…" I said, my fingers shaking uncontrollably. "That would mean… my revenge needs to be against the village… and that everything I know is really a lie… that even the hokage is disgusting filth who needs to be cleansed."

"It was hard to believe for me too. If you still want your revenge, My offer to help you still stands. If you want to tear down the whole leaf village and rebuild it into a fair system that knows of Itachi's sacrifice ~ then so be it. I'll be there every step of the way. But we have to hide our intentions for now. We have to build our strength and apply it at the correct time if we ever hope to overthrow the system."

"...Treason, what your suggesting is treason. Why would you… go so far? Just for me?" I asked unable to believe what I heard.

"You're basically all I've got Sasuke. I'm going to help you no matter what it is, and it doesn't matter if I have to make enemies with the whole world to do it. I want nothing more than to help purify injustice and have a world where unfair actions are rewarded with due judgement."

"You… want to make a better world?"

 _It was unbelievable. All this time I was so fixated on just destroying my brother and Orochimaru but never thought about what would come next. Not only was I wrong about my brother, but I was thinking too small. What would it matter to wipe out 2 evil people from the world if the world itself is actually flawed? Someone would replace them unless significant enough change happens._

My vision distorted and my emotions came spilling out of me uncontrollably. I couldn't hold back the flood of feelings spilling out as my entire world view shattered. It was what I clung to for security but even that was ripped away.

 _In the end? What did I have left?_

I couldn't see anything through the torrent of tears streaming from my eyes, but the firm comforting embrace of Mina was recognizable.

"I'm so sorry…" She whispered.

She was the only thing capable of grounding me. I don't know what I would have done if her grip didn't keep me rooted in her arms. If she didn't understand my pain and wasn't my lifeline in the hurricane of life threatening to swallow me whole.

My cheek felt how moist her shirt was becoming, but my self control was nowhere to be found. My face was buried in her chest and no matter how I tried to reason that it shouldn't, I couldn't pull away. It was all I had left.

 _She was the only thing left that was important to me now… But how would she view me now that she knows how weak i am? Would she change her mind about me?_

Thoughts whirred by in flashes. Questions I didn't know I had were being resolved one after another, opening myself to entirely new questions that needed to be answered.

"It's going to be okay. We'll get through this together and we'll be stronger for it. Stronger than anyone else."

I have no idea how long I shamefully cried on her while clinging on like a leech. It had to have been hours. So many hours had passed and she still held me firmly, rocking me and offering comfort all while being soaked in my tears and embarrassingly my snot. I don't know If I ever felt more self-loathing in my entire life than I did in this moment.

 _The fact I couldn't save my family from Itachi's butchery even took a backseat to how worthless I felt now. Well - maybe not, I just don't know anymore._

I couldn't cry anymore. I think I've exhausted the supply my eyes could shed. I was desolate now understanding even my village had betrayed me.

 _No - that's not true. I'm not entirely empty. Mina Hyuga is the single redeeming thing in my life - no in the world._

"Mina… I need to show you something."

My eyes were itchy, so much so I wish I could scratch them, but straining to keep them open, I stared at the girl who was demonstrated her tremendous trust in me.

 _I need to prove my trust in her._

"Yes? What is it?" She replied.

"It's… just follow me." I said grabbing her hand and leading her out of the home. Her hand was warm and damp.

Making my way through the vast network of paths inside the Uchiha District, I arrived at the destination.

I lead her to the entrance of my clan's main hall. Forced to relinquish her hand, I undid the seals on the doors one by one, until only the last one in the shape of the sharingan was left. It could only be dispelled through a sharingan's natural genjutsu.

Channeling my rage, the color scheme of the world shifted alerting me to the activation of my families dojutsu. Releasing the final seal, the door opened, and I took the lead entering first.

"What are we doing here?" I heard from behind me.

"This is sacred ground for my clan, no outsiders are allowed here in the Naka Shrine, but your as much as family as anyone I've got left, so I need to show you my clan's hidden meeting spot."

The air was stuffy inside as the building hadn't been opened in some time. Dust caked the floors and tables but I hardly paid it any mind.

A girlish sneeze sounded behind me, and then another. I couldn't help but smirk thinking that even she doesn't have control of her body.

 _To the right, yes… The 3rd mat...4th...5th...6th...7th!_

My fingers curled underneath the tatami mat, pulling it up and revealing a hidden hatch. Lifting the hatch with the metallic handle, a creak sounded and a dark passageway was inviting us down into its depths.

"Wow!" I heard the impressed voice as we found ourselves in the secret small room.

 _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_

I launched the attack into one of the shrine's ceremonial torches whos exterior was decorated with painting of glinting red sharingan. There was another ceramic torch, but I lit it by transferring the flames with a dry wooden stick.

"This place is crazy! What's this?" She said pointing to the stone monument affixed to the wall.

"This holds the greatest secrets of our clan." I said before gasping.

 _There… there's more written here than there was last time?_

" _What's up?"_

"There's more here than there was last time i read it."

"Yeah? I can't read jack shit."

"You need the sharingan to read it." I said.

"So what? Now that you have your 2nd tomoe, more of it is visible to you?"

 _What a reasonable deduction to conclude._

"Maybe…"

"Well… What does it say?"

"It says . . . . ."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

My eyelids are heavy.

 _I haven't done much of anything all day, and I'm still tired? Woke up late, trained for 20 minutes tops, consoled a child, and I'm this tired? It makes no sense._

Strolling along the Uchiha district with Sasuke back to his residence, I realized I wasn't going to make it back to my home tonight unless I left right now, and leaving right now was unthinkable if I still planned to capitalize on Sasuke's current weakness to solidify our relationship.

Bringing my hands together into the classic clone seal, I spoke: "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

The clone would have already known its designated instructions since I made it after considering it. The clone would go straight to bed and lock the door, but it would be suspicious if it didn't return with my ninja tools, so before leaving, I made sure to hand off my gear.

Watching the clone saunter away, I looked back to the Uchiha escorting me.

"What was that all about?"

"Who knows how late I'll end up staying out, so I needed a contingency plan so Tokuma-san won't worry about me."

"Hn."

I was uncertain whether my legs had somehow become lead during our little trek. The probability was low, but as heavy as they were it couldn't possibly be zero.

Reaching the entrance of his humble abode, Excitement rushed through me at the prospect I could curl up on his couch and maybe I can rest my eyes real quick.

The flick of a lightswitch set off a chain reaction forcing my pupils to constrict. Shielding my squinted eyes, I focused on looking at my feet to find my way to the couch.

Leaping into the inviting leather cooshie furnashing, my fatigue melted.

It was like I was at the midpoint between conscious thought and sleep. I could make out some words directed at me, but i couldn't bother to even process them.

A fabric abruptly swallowed my face jolting me awake as I pawed it off.

Over me loomed the familiar Uchiha, the last of his respective clan within the walls of Konoha.

"If you were just going to fall asleep as soon as you got here, why didn't you walk home earlier?"

 _Oof… He's right. I can't waste this opportunity._

"My bad, I didn't think I was this tired. But I'm up now."

"Just go to sleep brat. You have bags under your eyes like an old crone."

 _He didn't? No - he couldn't have?_

Frozen in place while scanning Sasuke for tells, but that cocky smile he adopted was the final straw breaking the camel's back.

I rushed him, and he swiftly went into evasive mode as I chased him around the house.

"What are you doing?!"

"How dare you compare me to some old crone! I'll teach you my wrath when I get my hands on you."

Chasing him around had to bear fruit eventually, we were in an inclosed area with many dead ends, it was only a matter of time.

Finally cornered, that cocky grin of his vanished like the wind, instead disturbed confusion replacing it.

"Your mine!" I shouted catching him with my interweaving dead bone pulse.

"Substitution."

 _You've got to be fucking kidding me…_

"Hmph - You're going to have to try harder than that."

Things continued like this for a period, before both of us called a truce.

Sitting on the hardwood in a hallway with our backs pressed against the wall in the dark, we started talking about the most random of things, until the conversation shifted towards our particular world views.

"Do you ever wonder if there is a direct correlation to lower intellect and 'niceness'?" I asked.

"What, like the smarter someone is, the less inclined someone is to be nice?"

"Yeah. In my opinion, Being nice without a purpose is something stupid people do to hedge their bets."

"That… might be one of the most cynical things I've ever heard." He responded.

"Maybe - but can you think of any evidence that would disprove my theory?"

"I mean… well… no."

"It's not provable without evidence, but at the same time, it's also not refutable. It's just a thought."

Silence fell over us, but we had long since become comfortable with extended silence. It wasn't awkward, or boring, merely natural until someone had something else to say.

"Looks like I'm going to have to revise my plan for revenge. I don't know what I'm going to do now." He said.

"Maybe that's a good thing. As soon as you realize what it is your going to do, you're going to become a slave to your revenge anyways."

"A slave? - To revenge? Never - I'm the one who'll be in control."

"You're lying to yourself. I've planned out and stewed on my ideas for revenge and long since lost my internal locus of control. I'm a slave to circumstance and opportunities in ways you can't begin to imagine."

"Your a slave to your revenge?" He questioned.

"In a sense, yes, but I'm a slave to more than simply my revenge. It all started with the realization that life as it is now cannot be cured, only managed."

"Who says it can't be cured? This sounds like your 'Niceness' theory, pretty - but can't be proven or disproven, so is it even worth talking about?"

"It's just a thought, like i said. Your argument is similar to ' _Newton's flaming laser sword_ ,' but the point of bringing this stuff isn't to debate it, but segway into other related topics.

"Yeah - like what topics?"

"Can a human cure the sickness that is humanity? Such a feat must be reserved for a God, don't you think? I've found myself asking myself this more and more lately. The more I come to understand, the more I realize I understand nothing by comparison. It's a crazy paradox…"

"..."

"If everyone in the world was comfortable, would that mean we successfully eradicated the sickness?" I asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Comfortability is a mentality for the sheep of the world. If your woke to your reality, the only logical response should be uncomfort. Why? Because our existence is precarious and terrifying. By that logic, If everyone in the world was comfortable, we would be living in blissful ignorance, which is the whole reason society tries to prevent us from thinking for ourselves. We are to fight the villages enemies without argument, We are to accept rules and laws of our land because we live within them, but the law doesn't protect the people, the people protect the law. The moment we as a collective realize we don't want to honor those laws anymore, the governing body loses its power."

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

"Well someone had to."

My head kept slouching down, but my fight to remain awake would jerk it back up again until it inevitably fell again.

Sasuke stood up from his position on the floor nudging me with a foot. "You should go lay down. Get some rest."

I wanted to argue, but somehow it wasn't in me anymore. Zombified, I strolled into the living room crashing on the couch and covering myself with the blanket. I leaned my head against the armrest despite its awkward orientation because at this point I didn't care anymore. I could probably sleep on the floor to be honest.

It was cold even with the blanket, and I had a brief thought of how wonderful it would be to curl up with Hinata on a night like this. I could clearly envision it, but even the thought of her lost its appeal.

She didn't want me, So I didn't need her. I would cut her from my life entirely and back Hanabi instead.

 _I don't care what anyone thinks about it, I'm going to do it anyways._

"Here's a pillow" I heard before my head involuntarily raised and something was placed beneath it. My hands found their way wrapped around something warm next to my head - an arm - and without thinking, I pulled it towards me.

A heft appeared on top of me, and it was so warm, much warmer than my pillow at home. It writhed around like it was trying to break free, but I wouldn't let it out of my grasp.

"What are you doing?!" I heard.

 _What was I doing? Getting comfortable. What a stupid question, who asked that?_

"Please...For a little bit?" I whined groggily.

Suddenly the warm figure stopped fighting and went eerily still.

Then - something my pillow could never do - the figure wrapped me up. The warth chased away my internal doubts and the existential cold all at once. I was being softly squeezed, and the sensation was so human like it called back memories of my other worldly lovers. The great pleasure I took in spooning with them until I was so sweaty I couldn't stand it. It was a nice callback, even if I knew it was all in my imagination.

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**_

Yawning I clenched my eyes together harder. My arm wouldn't move and it had gone numb. Opening my eyes, I nearly let out a shriek before silencing myself.

Sasuke was lying beside me, and my arm was stuck beneath him. But not only that, his arms were around me.

 _What the hell happened last night?_

His eyes flicked open - and our gazes met, before it dawned on him what the current situation was. Pushing himself off me, he fell off the couch onto the floor with a _thud_.

"I - I - I…" He stuttered. "This never happened."

He crawled to his knees, then to his feet, and scattered out of the room in a full out retreat.

I was boggled. I had no clue how this situation arose, and I was more embarrassed than anything, so I could deal with a vow of silence pretending like it never happened. That would be preferential to be honest.

 _ **BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-OOP…**_

The Alarm cut off and the only thing that could now be heard was the creak of floorboards. I could hear the young Uchiha pacing around the house like he was trying to wear a hole in the floor.

Laying still on the couch for a minute, letting my heartbeat fall into regularity, I racked my brain for answers.

 _How did this situation even happen? Who initiated it? What is he thinking?_

The more I thought, the more I realized that the answers didn't matter, so finally I came to the conclusion to drag myself up and onto my feet.

I approached the sound of pacing footsteps, and Sasuke spun around with large wide open eyes falling on me before shifting to the ground.

"Nothing happened." I said reassuringly as possible, but it came out more like a question.

"Nothing happened." he parroted back.

"Okay, glad we are in agreement." I said nodding my head. "I've got to go take care of some stuff. I'll catch you later."

Without waiting for his reaction, I turned and left, not bothering to look back.

 _That's it! I can't put it off anymore. I have to seek a professional opinion. I have to understand the changes I'm undergoing. This weakness doesn't suit me, I have to have it resolved._

My footfalls bringing me closer and closer to the hospital that by now I could walk to with my eyes shut.

 _It was nothing but innocent cuddling! Not anything more. Besides, it's not like I'm even attracted to men, he was just - just a warm body. Sasuke probably thinks the same thing. No he probably things even less of it. Mhmmm, Nothing funny going on here._

Stepping through the entrance, the unmistakable stench of chemical sterilization wafted into my nostrils. My stomach weakened as soon as I arrived, but I wouldn't be dissuaded so easily.

Slapping the bell atop the counter with rapid succession, the receptionist peered over his shoulder at me with a hint of annoyance, but I couldn't be asked to wait patiently.

"Yes?" The man garbed in scrubs asked.

"I'd like to see a doctor in your diagnosis department."

"..." He looked me up and down and looked like he was fighting back a laugh before he tossed a clipboard over my way. "Can you or whoever brought you here fill this out for us? When your done, bring it back and a doctor will see you right away."

Taking a pen from a cupholder sitting on the countertop, and heading back to one of the seats in the waiting area, I filled out the many data-entry slots on the pages as accurately as I could, as fast as possible, and promptly returned to the receptionist.

Upon reaching the counter, I noticed the bell had gone missing, and the man behind the counter must have seen me notice, because a smirk flew across his face accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders before stepping out of the booth and into the depths of the building.

Frustrated, I tapped my foot standing at the counter until a new receptionist took the mans place after several minutes.

"Hello, how can I help you?" She asked.

"This is my paperwork for my doctors visit. Please let me know when your ready for me." I said handing over the clipboard.

I looked back at the cupholder full of pens on the counter, but annoyed, I pocketed the pen instead of returning it.

 _This is a consolation for your poor customer service._

I waited and waited, then waited some more. After a while, I was called up and lead down a series of brightly lit hallways until arriving at a door to _examination room 1-64_ on the first floor by a nurse practitioner who asked me to wait patiently for the doctor before closing the door behind her.

There was a poster of a human skeleton along with an index of the many bones making up the skeletal system. I found scanning it up and down trying to identify particular bones and systems of bones by their appearance before confirming my guesses.

The latch of the door clicked, and as I turned around, I saw a middle-aged man in scrubs entering through the now open doorway before nodding to me and slamming the door with bored indifference.

"It says here that you are suffering from hypersomnia, fatigue, and... changes in chakra consistency? Correct?"

"Yes."

"I see." The doctor said pulling out a flashlight, reaching out and cupping my chin with a hand, and shining the light in my face. "And when did you notice these changes start happening?"

"2 or 3 days ago." I answered.

Behind the surgeon mask, I could tell he made a face, but had no idea what it was having been masked.

"Can you say _AAAAAHH_ for me? - yes but stick your tongue out. Excellent." He said pressing his thumbs into my neck and making his way downward. "Any idea as to what might have caused this?"

"Maybe a large spike of chakra sent through my body?" I questioned.

The examination continued on pretty normally gathering more information, testing my reflexes, ect…

The doctor took a sample of my chakra in a culture jar and headed out the room with it. By the time he was back, he brought a Hyuga back with him to my dejection.

 _I guess I wouldn't be able to keep this visit hush hush anymore._

After further inspection, both the individuals rushed out of the room, and when the main doctor returned, he had his mask removed and a grim expression was plastered on his wrinkled face.

"I've got good news and bad news, what would you like to hear first?"

"The bad." I said.

The Doc let out a sigh before saying: "You have advanced degeneration in your chakra pathways the likes I've never seen in such a young person like yourself. The lining of the pathways are stripped and weak, not to mention several capitalaries which act like exchange centers to different parts of the body look as if they've been healed but incorrectly - we call this type of defection a Nonunion, and they can't be restored without surgery and therapy."

My mouth dropped open as I could only look at the man dumbfounded by the news.

"The good news is that with proper treatment and recovery, you should be able to nearly return to your prime after only 6 to 12 months. Your lucky you caught the damage so soon because if you had waited much longer, the damage would be much more permanent."

 _He said I was… LUCKY?! I'M FUCKING LUCKY I'M CRIPPLED?! **FUCK YOU!** WHAT IF I BROKE ONE OF YOUR LEGS? WOULD YOU BE LUCKY IF I ONLY BROKE ONE? THAT I MERCIFULLY STOPPED AFTER ONLY THAT MUCH?!_

My breathing grew erratic as I struggled for air.

The doctor pushed the door open yelling out "Patient is hyperventilating in exam room 1-64, requesting assistance!"

 _What is happening to me? Why me? Why is it always me?!_

"Huuee-ooof. Huueeee-ooooof. Hueeeee-eerkkk." The noises I was making scared even myself.

"Patient undergoing a panic attack, coming through, clear the way."

 ** _Why me?!_**

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **Reviewer Question: - What's your Favorite Anime with more than 1 season or 20+ episodes?**

My Top 5 (in no particular order):

 _ **Overlord, Re:Zero, Stein's Gate, Psycho-pass, Youjo Senki**_ _\- (Technically the movie is season 2 so fight me)_

…


	36. Chapter 32 - (Volume 2)

**Article 36 - Chapter 32 - Promotional Escapades**

 **-Volume 2: Subarticle 1-**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-**

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┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 32 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(9 Years old - Mina POV)**

I had hoped to find myself with Hiashi on his latest excursion from the village, but it was decided that he would take Neji instead which was irksome but not altogether unexpected.

Don't misunderstand, Hiashi had actually been treating me more fair ever since accomplishing the 2nd task of the six I owed him. It seemed that with demonstration of my value, that he came to accept me for how I was, foregoing his pressure to change me into his idea of an ideal Hyuga allowing me to serve as a useful instrument in the now.

Even Hiashi had his limits though. As a man who idolized the main branch, he still had to keep appearances in order to save face when I crossed lines I knew better than to cross. I was progressional, ever testing the limits of the patriarchs patience to take advantage of all benefits within my means.

Each me and Neji were to receive graduation presents. We were allowed to make requests for what would be most useful to us in preparation of joining the workforce - becoming full fledged ninjas.

Neji's request was wholesomely practical - true to his personality. He wanted a uniform that could withstand his signature transformation fighting style. Upon reverting from a transformation, the destruction of ones clothing from it became readily apparent. His only request was a chakra imbued uniform which could morph alongside him at his whim.

Luckily the Akimichi clan within konoha where specialist in creating body morphing ensembles for extreme comfort even mid transformation, but their skills were in size adjustments, not form manipulation, so although much of the work could be done inside the village, the finishing touches were required to be applied out of the village, which is the true reason why Neji was allowed on Hiashi's expedition, and when I found out their target destination, I couldn't hold myself back from asking for the moon.

"I want a puppet assembly kit from Sunagakure." I stated.

A vein in the side of the man's face bulged after hearing my request.

In truth, I didn't expect my request to go through. Either Haishi wouldn't be able to get his hands on what I wanted or he would refuse. I figured the slimmest chance that he might be able to follow through made it worth it to ask, especially since I couldn't think of anything else that I specifically wanted. Tokuma had already brought me shopping and picked up the great majority of all supplies I could want.

"How many times do I have to tell you to give up your puppeteer fantasy? A leaf shinobi trying to be a puppeteer isn't only wholesomely impractical, it's a disgrace."

"Disgrace or not - that's the only thing I'm asking for. If you can't manage that, then give me nothing, at least then I can confirm my suspicions of how resourceful you are."

"Hehmph. You think petty provocation will change my mind?"

"..."

Letting him stew with that on his mind was my one and only play, but you wouldn't find me holding my breath or anything.

Hiashi had discovered me many of times over experimenting with the construction of puppets, and each time he confiscated all my prototypes, parts, and tools to dissuade me in my pursuit of the art of puppetry. I wouldn't let it work though, and continued anew each time to his annoyance.

His last time that he went to confiscate my belongings, he had asked a question.

"What the hell has you so fixated on the substandard art of puppetry?"

"As I see it, my strength in close quarters is already unmatched. I will continue refining my taijutsu and gentle fist technique of course, but my mid to long range combat is very lacking by comparison. I'd like to leave close quarters combat to my clones, then support my teammates with puppets at a distance. I want to be a pivotal control tower of the battlefield, able to lead and react to anything." was my answer.

It was after this discussion that Hiashi decidedly gave up on interfering with my dreams of becoming a puppet master. But giving up interference and lending aid are two very different things. I suspected he wouldn't aid me in my ambition, but figured even as a long shot it was worth trying.

 _Nothing ventured, nothing gained._

The Omamori brocade bag swung against my chest with each stride in a hypnotic rhythm. It was a Buddhist protective charm, and although I didn't believe in its ability to do anything besides be encumbersome, the sentimentality of it still left me carrying it around with me regardless.

It was a gift from Neji.

The night of my wretched diagnosis I was visited by Neji before undergoing the surgery. At the time I would rather have not been seen, pity is for the weak, which is exactly why being pitied by my senpai grated on my nerves. It woke me further to my weakness.

Still, long after the fact I had come to appreciate his modest display and the fact I knew he cared about me.

Hinata's visit was the truly uncomfortable engagement. Unable to walk away, I was forced to confront my demons.

She was confused as to why I removed all traces of her from my life, tears in her eyes while asking. I ushered the rest of the occupants in the room out for a moment of privacy before explaining to her that she had made her decision. That she used me knowing full well I had once had feelings for her.

She stood silent with a dumbstruck expression before trying to explain herself, but it was exactly as I had suspected, she was torn in confusion between me and naruto, and figured that pursuing Naruto was more practical.

 _Perhaps I rubbed off on her too well…_

The recovery post-op was slow and arduous, but after completion of the months on months of physical therapy I was better than ever before. I certainly was weaker than I would have been if I never had to deal with my damaged chakra pathways and non-unions of my improperly healed capitalaries, but that was in the past and I couldn't afford to cry over spilt milk.

While I wasn't able to train, I instead spent my time learning. Reading, conversing, experimenting, researching, ect… I needed to understand how I had damaged my chakra system and how to prevent it from happening again.

The answer came in two parts, the first was how I had used Leon in the summoning realm. Pumping exorbitant amounts of foreign chakra through my system with little preamble causing the precursory damage. But the 2nd part was more disturbing. A congenital defect that was likely because of my kekkei genkai. Shikotsumyaku assist's with the rapid regeneration of skin, muscle tissues, bones, as well as other biologic agents. For skin, muscle and bones, the Shikotsumyaku was a blessing, able to create functioning replacement with little errors, but for things like chakra pathways and capitalaries? The rapid regeneration caused anomalies preventing them from ever returning to normal on their own.

It was similar to a benign cancer. Extra cells are produced affecting the ability for proper functionality. The replication of cells were confined to the area of origin thankfully making it possible to fix with an operation without the fear that it would be spread.

It was quite a revelation, the discovery of my genetic defect. There was no cure, all I could do in the end was manage it until it finally left me a cripple or dead. I was uncertain if Kimimaro from canon had the same exact condition, or if his differed at all.

I found myself cursed now for the 2nd time by congenital failure. I should have probably fallen to despair, but I couldn't help but thank Being-X. He could throw all the handicap's he wants at me. I would play this life out on _Hardcore Veteran_ difficulty and still win. Perhaps it was delusional, but losing after all the foul play sofar wasn't an option. My plans for the future may have been altered somewhat, but the end game would be exactly the same.

 _The subjugation of the self-proclaimed God._

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┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"No way that idiot can pass. The final test is on the clone and transformation jutsu and that flunkie can't do either."

Sitting at the back of the classroom, Kogetsu's obnoxious voice carried louder than the other children's mumbles.

The final testing process for ninja applicants was being managed by Wataru-sensei and two other judges in a secondary room one-by-one. Lee was the only student in the class to be missing, and the last to be called despite the rest of the children being called alphabetically.

"They already knew he wouldn't make it, so they didn't even bother\ letting him take the test. How dumb can he be to think he be a shinobi without any ninjutsu OR genjutsu."

"Hey Tetsuya, shut your mouth, your garbage and the only way you can make yourself feel better is talking about the only kid in class who you _might_ be better than." I said catching their attention forcing them to glance over their shoulders to the back of the room.

"Might? I already have my headband. I AM better than that loser."

"Yeah? How come he's been whoopin' that ass in taijutsu class then?"

"Because we aren't allowed to use ninjutsu or genjutsu during the matches. ALL HE HAS IS TAIJUTSU, and he's barely ahead of me at that."

"I think your last 30 matches are 1 Win - 29 Losses versus him, right? You said _barely_? The kid is straight demolishing you retard."

Kogetsu let out a hearty chuckle holding his belly and beating his fist on the desk.

"Bro, you got _R-O-A-S-T-E-D_! I'm dead."

"-And you fatass, you have a negative win rate versus him and your from a ninja clan. How embarrassing."

"NO I DON'T! … We're even." He retorted crossing his arms and glancing off to the side.

"Oh, my bad, all I can remember is you losing the past five of them."

Showing me his grating teeth like a rabid dog, his hateful gaze locked on me despite being the end of our words.

From the doorway entered Rock Lee, holding a headband out in his grasp with unfettered pride and excitement on full display.

"I've done it! I've done it! I too am a full fledged ninja!" He yelled beaming with exhilaration.

I found myself clench my hand beneath the table, leaning forward in celebration. Things about this world were constantly changing from the cannon story I remembered, so celebrating this win, even if it was expected, was a weight off my heart.

" _Lee_ got a headband?! I must be dreaming! " Kogetsu exclaimed.

My mouth fell into a frown, my attention back on the intolerant brood of a relocated section of the Kohaku clan now settled in the Hidden Leaf.

The kid stood from his seat, turned, and struck the kid next to him in the face with his open palm knocking him to the floor.

"What was that for?" Tetsuya said pushing himself off the ground.

" _See_! It didn't hurt. It _HAS_ to be a dream!"

"It hurt me though dumbass." He finished with a slap of his own.

"Oww!"

A face planted into my palm at the ridiculous idiocy of those imbeciles, but I couldn't say they were good for nothing, those clowns could make me giggle even on my worst days with their half-brained antics.

From the door entered another figure, Their recognizable chunin kit shushed the room into silence. Watari-sensei was holding a paper he was looking down at all the while plodding over to his desk.

An enunciated emptying of his throat reined in the class as he announced: "Today, all of you awarded with a headband are shinobi. Be proud of the time and dedication to come this far, but it is only the beginning of your journey. Tomorrow at 10:00am will be your genin orientation and squad assignments. Remember to come prepared as you will meet your Jonin instructors. That is all, you are excused."

"Sir, what about class rankings?" the black-headed Nara asked with a hand waving in the air.

"Ah, yes. Class rankings will also be released tomorrow."

 _Odd… I had thought that the Nara kid didn't care about class ranks as long as I knew him, what's up with the sudden change? Over the past two years or so he had progressed, and his mechanical execution of both ninjutsu and taijutsu developed at an alarming rate compared to the other students… well besides Sasuke, Neji, and me of course. There's no way he overtook the top three seats which is all I cared about._

Neji and Hiashi should be returning sometime today, but when exactly I was uncertain.

The class poured out of the room, bodies in a hustle and bustle to vacate the classroom like school children leaving for summer vacation.

 _Like schoolchildren? Well, despite now being considered adults having joined the rankings of Genin within the Konoha military aristocracy, we were still schoolchildren in actuality._

Sasuke nudged my side with an elbow. "You coming?" He asked.

"What, over to your place?"

"Duh, where else, unless you want to hit the training grounds first?" A cocky grin appearing on his face.

 _Asshole._

He managed to advance at such a breakneck pace that in all reality, Sasuke had surpassed me at many ninja skills. He had learned several elemental jutsu's, progressed his Sharingan to the final tomoe, and completely outclassed me at thrown projectiles. My rehabilitation left my pride wounded having been overtaken by the Uchiha prodigy and he didn't miss an opportunity to rub it in.

"To your compound it is then."

In spars I could still keep up. Sasuke's genjutsu was next to worthless on me which served to limit his options. Also, my defense was always going to be problematic for him, especially since the Dead Bone Pulse made it harder to pop my clones, but also because he didn't have an ace jutsu that could defeat or circumvent my defense yet. I was exhausting my bag of tricks to continue to pull out decisive victories. Sooner or later the difference of our skills and talents would be the deciding factor in our skirmishes rather than my solid defense and improvisational repertoire. No doubt he's been waiting for that day for half his damn life.

The Dead bone pulse was a fright in live no-bars-held combat, but its effectiveness dropped several magnitudes if goring the opponent was out of the question. That paired with Sasuke's deep knowledge of the chakra system he had learned along the way from both books and my practical application of the Gentle Fist on him gave him the knowledge and skills to shield his tenketsu from getting sealed or disrupted too badly in spars.

 _That paired with my handicap was enough to even the playing field between us in spars._

For those reasons, I couldn't afford to show off anymore of my tricks, not yet at least. I needed to continue working on my fundamentals in secret to catch back up so I wouldn't need to show him every trick in the bag to maintain my edge over him.

Kicking off the roofs of buildings, today was technically the first time were authorized to use the _Shinobi highway_ despite using it many times before. Not having to watch over our shoulders in fear of a scolding was a nice perk though now having advanced to genin.

"...You think we're going to be paired together right?" Sasuke asked slowing his pace a little.

"Hiashi-sama should have pressured the Hokage to pair us together, not to mention every year they normally pair the boys best, the girls best, and the classes worst together on a team. At first I was certain Neji would hold the boys first over you, but I think you snagged the spot, and besides, I was already told Neji and I cannot be paired on the same team because the Byakugan is too valuable a tool to stack them on the same team." I said before adding: "-so yeah, I don't see why we wouldn't be paired up."

"Hn… Good. Anyone else would just slow me down anyways, besides, being on the same team will make our joint goal easier."

"Yeah is that all, are you sure your not falling in love loser? I mean, I couldn't fault you, look at me." I probed scanning for a reaction.

But as I expected, nothing. Not a facial readjustment, or posture change. He was truly entering the echelons of the Elite in both fighting prowess and self control. The kid I had once been able to read like a book was now more like a complex sudoku puzzle much to my chagrin.

"Hn…"

"Nyaaah." I let out in a girlish fashion, my tongue sticking out.

A glumness had been ruminating inside me the longer I found myself in this forsaken reality. Despair from the idiocy, complacency, and downright incompetence of those who surrounded me.

There were few who my eyes of appraisal found value in, and fewer who maintained said value.

Oddly enough, the most valuable person in my eyes had become Sasuke, and not of his genes, his battle prowess, or his role to play in some master scheme I was cooking, but because he was one of the only people around me who felt like an honest to god human that I could get along with. Our interactions saved me from lurking in a pit of depression. His friendship had become the highlight of my life in the hidden leaf to my astonishment.

Over the many hours we spent in close proximity, my mask would occasionally slip around the Uchiha prodigy, revealing glimpses of my true nature. But to my surprise, he never turned away or rebuked me for them, and instead seemed to enjoy each instance like he valued them more because he knew they were genuine.

Where I had once seen only a puppet that I could string along at my leisure, he underwent a rapid metamorphosis into a defining connection that tethered me to my remnants of sanity.

There's a consensual understanding that you become more like the people you surround yourself with, and although I may hold much more wisdom than Sasuke, his raw unfettered intellect was astounding. So much so I couldn't help but be jealous, I wished that I was as gifted as him, and perhaps I was, but my gifts resided in different areas.

Not long ago, I simply wished to possess Sasuke. I was intrigued by his potential power and his agile mind. However somewhere along the way, it devolved into full blown personal attachment.

It started when I realized how greedy it was of me to hold contempt for someone simply because he had talents I didn't, That lingering thought spurred my conscious to hold me back from the hardcore manipulative tactics I had started and planned to continue employing.

I told myself I was content with watching his brilliant radiance. To stand by his side as he honed his intellectual might into a fearsome unstoppable weapon. I wanted to help him cultivate his gift, and without a doubt I have, but his bottleneck was still nowhere in sight.

 _Maybe if I could figure out a way to prevent Being-X from controlling Sasuke, then he could even help me slay the 'God'._

I wasn't sure why Being-X couldn't possess me like he could possess everyone around me, or why my mind seemed to work while time was at a stand still. If it had the ability, surely it would have exploited it by now, but instead it continues trying to influence those around me.

 _If I could discover the secret behind his power, then... maybe telling Sasuke about that damnedable god wouldn't be so far fetched... Am I getting ahead of myself? True psychological intimacy, not holding anything back could be possible if the right conditions are met… which was alluring to fantasize about._

I enjoyed his company from the bottom of my heart, and this lead me to question whether this attachment was a compromising risk. Would it be a new avenue Being-x could exploit.

The obvious answer would be yes, but I learned a valuable lesson that even avoiding connections wouldn't save people from being victims to Being-X's interferences. If they were going to be meddled with regardless, then there was no reason not to take advantage of opportunities to bond with people.

I was at a crossroads and I would need to make a crucial decision.

 _Would I only accept a female as a love interest, or was Sasuke a potential suitor worth investigating?_

I tried quantifying my feelings into thoughts, but they were a jumbled mess. Sorting through them would be a grievous chore. Part of me wondered if the attraction I already knew existed with him was more than that of platonic friendship. I didn't know if he had romantic feelings for me, but I did have my suspicions. The real problem was my feelings toward him were mysterious.

I was one to, under normal conditions, act with decisiveness and confidence fueled by logic. But with him? - I was so far out of my element I was drawing blanks more and more. I also found myself acting differently towards him as a result of this resulting in more awkward situations than I intended, but I rolled with them like they had been intentional, and adopted them as a normal way to converse with him.

The confusion over my sexuality left me frustrated. To sort out my feelings would require understanding myself on a deeper level, and to do that required both experimentation and self- reflection.

 _I'm sure I'm one of the few cases where I had to choose whether between being mentally homosexual or physically homosexual. Engaging in physical homosexuality seems the obvious choice, I'm still pretty sure I prefer women, but I suspect even that might be proven to be surprisingly empty… I just wasn't sure. But perhaps I'll have a better idea after tonight's experiment._

It's a human paradigm to yearn for intimacy. To be so close to another or others that you can share the depth of your body and psyche. The allure wasn't lost on me even if I admitted that the idea was far-fetched in my current situation.

 _I couldn't afford to push my envelope with people I was already acquainted with though, which is why tonight will be a good test to get a better feel for myself. If I couldn't attain psychological intimacy with someone I knew, than the obvious answer to reach a conclusion was to seek out physical intimacy._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The daylight weigned, dusk falling in full motion. With my back leaned up against a wooden wall onlooking the entrance of the red light district which was now coming online. I took a deep sigh before pushing myself upright and bolded, entering the district and turning into the most frequented brothel of the village.

The building was massive, three stories in totality. It was a repurposed mansion of a wealthy merchant, the windows all shining vibrant colors due to the abundance of light streaming from the stained glass.

Closing the door behind me, the fragrance of multitudes of lingering perfumes and female pheromones hit me like a wall. So strong it was dizzying if I was being frank.

A scantily dressed hostess greeted me, her blonde locks twisting into marvelous curls nearly managing to hide the large golden O's dangling from her earlobes.

"Excuse me, I think you may be lost young… Hyuga-san?"

"I don't believe so, I'm here to celebrate my coming of age and will be borrowing one of your prostitutes." I said flashing my shinobi headband as my identification before returning it to my pocket.

Her eyes darted from side to side in a motion I could only conclude was in denial she head heard me correct.

"You said you wish to visit a prostitute? You need a word with someone in particular?"

"No. Just show me the lineup and I'll select my favorite."

"Er… Ma'am we only have service _girls_ here."

"Okay? So show me your girls, or at least give me recommendations?"

"Uhh. right." She sputtered darting behind the check in desk rifling through papers.

In no time flat, she handed me a binder, and as I flipped through the pages of practically nude marketed girls, my eyes stopped and lingered on a young redhead.

"Is she available?" I asked turning the binder around and tapping the page indicating my selection.

"Yes. What type of package would you like?"

"Put me down for…" I stalled peeking around overhead at the deals listed in chalk on a blackboard in neon pink."-for an hour."

I was starting to get impatient so I withdrew my coin purse indicating I was ready to pay at any time. Of all the money I had managed to stash away, I was charged more than half of my reserves, 18,000 Ryo.

After payment, I was escorted to the second floor up a flight of spiraling stairs. We passed several enticing beauties. My overall confusion over my sexuality had ramped up my libedo to dangerously high levels. If I didn't get this out of my system, I swore I was going to end up assaulting someone soon.

Walking past an open doorway, I caught sight of a man hammering away on top of a woman on her back clenching the sheets of the bed. "Aaaahhh!"

My escourts face flushed pink, taking a sideways step to jerk the door shut as we past.

"My apologies."

"Looks like you got yourselves some exhibitionists here, huh?" I said winking at the blonde.

Her hips swayed in front of me causing her dress to dance above the floorboards with each step.

"Heh, it's as you say Ma'am." She chuckled, turning her attention back in front of her seeming nervous or uncomfortable. It was difficult to deduce which one from her vocal inflection alone, as her body language wasn't telling in the slightest.

She paused outside a door where she slammed her knuckles into the hardwood.

 _ **Knock Knock.**_

"Miranda you have company."

"Come in!" I heard shouted from inside in a sultry tone.

The door swung from its hinges revealing a female sprawled out on a loveseat clad in an ornate thin silver shimmering dress that hugged her body accentuating her curved and plump rear.

"Well, Hello cutie." The girl welcomed me right after spotting me. "What brings you here?"

"What do you think brings me here fuckin' slut?"

Her eyes opened wider in astonishment, She glanced over to the woman behind me still lurking in the hallway in surprise as if to say, "Did that just come out of _this_ little girl's mouth?"

"Alright, You two have fun. I'll be back in 60 minutes." She said not acknowledging the woman's questioning glance closing the door as she left.

 _Now it was just me and her._

Her black eyeliner made it difficult to have my gaze wonder as if her eyes were demanding my attention. They were a brilliant shade of amber complimenting her perfectly combed and maintained pinkish-red hair falling to her breasts. A single large pigtail stuck out to the side bound above one of her ears which probably should have looked ridiculous, but instead I found it pleasantly captivating, especially with the single blue and white flower pinned to the tuff.

"You look very young."

"Yeah? Well I'm old enough for you to call me daddy."

 _If I had to guess her age, I 'd guess 17. Yeah, probably 17, give or take a year._

She came closer with light careful footing, inspecting me with a practiced smile fighting back her confusion. I found that fight especially alluring, she wouldn't likely be making the mistake of belittling me again.

If I still liked women, this girl was exactly my type.

 _I don't have an excuse to come out of here with more questions than answers._

My hand shot out catching the fabric of her dress in my fingertips. It was silky to the touch, and so thin I could feel the texture of her skin beneath. I dragged my nails up and down her back as I pulled her closer. Goosebumps rose along the path traveled by my nails to my excitement.

"Do you like that?" I asked.

"It feels good." she responded in a hushed tone before mirroring my actions. Her nails were longer, and she went right for my neck. My back spasmed from her touch, her grin widening as she saw my reaction.

 _Unacceptable. I won't let her take control. It's all mine._

Bringing my arms overhead, I stood waiting for her to catch on. In no time she slipped behind me, tugging at my blouse making it slide up my body until sliding past my skyward reaching hands.

Then something peculiar happened.

 _She… did she just sniff my blouse?_

My eyes opened wider in surprise.

Reaching to her shoulder, I pulled her down to her knees. I dragged a fingertip over my exposed abdomen in front of her face and she took the cue wonderfully.

Her puckered lips approached meeting my belly leaving pecks in a trail upward.

The swaying Omamori brocade bag caressing my chest was going to get in the way - so I pulled it off and flung it over atop my blouse crumpled in a heap on the floor.

My nipples hardened, but my chest was as flat as a board. As much as I'd love to say it didn't bother me, it did. It was one of my few causes of embarrassment, and I felt myself losing the stranglehold of control I seized as she worked her way up to my chest.

"Down girl." I said grasping her luscious hair in my firm grasp like a handlebar so there could be no question where she was going.

Her tongue danced along my hardened abs in tickling vibrations.

"Urrr-ruuff." Escaped my lips in bated breaths.

It was as if that was the signal for her to go harder. To double down in her efforts.

 _ **Claaap.**_

The woman stopped for just a moment before getting back to work, her face flushed bright red.

 _ **Claaap. Claaap.**_

I squeezed her plump ass in my hands in between spanks.

"Oh yeah, you like that don't you slut. Look how wet you are!" I said bent over to the side to get a better view noticing she wasn't wearing any panties.

Stepping back and ripping my tights off with a domineering grin, I reapproached taller than the fully grown woman on her knees.

"Undress me the rest of the way with only your teeth."

Her hot breath escaping her mouth and nostrils riding over my skin made me shudder. Her ability to strip me of my panties with only her teeth seemed like it was second nature to her. As if she was a skilled musician playing a rehearsed arpeggio scale. Before I knew it they were at my ankles and I stepped backwards out of them.

I retreated to the bed, jumping back first onto it, One of my hand's exploring my nether regions. I was soaking wet and dripping.

"Get your ass over here. This pussy isn't going to lick itself."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Miranda POV)**

The young girl exited the brothel doors leaving them behind in the lobby.

"How did things go?" The receptionist asked, curiosity swimming in her voice.

"There's… something not right about that girl."

"Any girl who would come here at her age an odd one for sure. Very bold certainly."

Rubbing my thumbs together, I thought about how to word my suspicions.

"Well sure, but I at least expected to have to take the lead. She was far more knowledgeable, dominant, and demanding than she has any right to be at that age." I said pausing before my next inquisition. "How could someone that young be exposed to the type of sexual experience she seemed to have? I fear the Hyuga have already sank their claws into her. Just thinking about what she must have gone through is disgusting."

" _ **Shh!**_ " The receptionist shushed with a finger at her lips. "Are you crazy? The Hyuga aren't common patrons, but don't dare badmouth them. They are one of the four noble clans in the village of Konoha and they will not stand for any slanderous words."

I crossed my legs in a formal curtsy, my head bowed to the ground. "My apologies mistress. I was out of line."

The mistress's hand cupped her chin. "Yes, as long as you understand." She said, her voice trailing off. She started again, this time in a whisper "... but that doesn't mean your deduction is too far off the mark. Still, Tell no one of this to be sure the wrath of the Hyuga doesn't fall upon this place."

"Ye-Yes Ma'am." I sputtered.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

Hiashi and Neji's return was a day late. They arrived sometime in the early morning while I was still asleep.

Called out of bed by Tokuma, I found myself downstairs in loose sweats unprepared for Hiashi sitting in our living room.

"Good morning." He greeted.

"Morning Hiashi-sama." I parroted still a bit delirious from sleep.

Stretching out my shouldered, I caught a box wrapped up in ornamental paper at the feet of the clans patriarch.

My heart stopped.

 _It can't be? Can it?_

The man's face broke out in a knowing grin. His foot slid the box across the hardwood towards me.

"Open it." He commanded.

Still unable to believe that the contents of this box was what I had asked for, I needed to confirm it without delay.

A nail sliced the edges of the paper allowing me access to a plain wooden box I pulled out from the wrappings.

The top slid open with pressure from my thumbs. Silver metal tools, wooden pegs, along with various other trinkets filled the box. I couldn't help but leap to my feet bouncing around in joy.

Before I knew what I was doing my arms flung around the clan leader into a thankful hug.

"Thank you - thank you - thank you!"

"Heh, Yes - yes. That's quite enough. I'm glad your happy because this was not the easiest thing to get my hands on, but if anyone asks, you didn't get that from me. If anyone asks, this is what I gave you." He said pulling a set of glass vials from a pocket.

One vial was filled with orange liquid, the other filled with blue. Both had sprayable caps wedged onto the tops of them.

"Per-fumes?" I asked unsteadied, unsure what exactly I was handed.

"Yes - Now you are a woman, despite how early you may have graduated. So even if I had come back without what you wanted, I had planned on giving you these anyways."

 _I hope he doesn't intend to spring out a marriage contract on me now. That would be just my luck._

"What, are you not happy with your gifts?"

"Their great, it just… it seems like there would be some catch."

"No catch. Keep up the good work and keep your nose clean. I don't want to find out that you've been making trouble for the clan again. Understood?"

"Yes Hiashi-sama!" Nodding in affirmation.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The class was smaller than when I had first started out here. Several applicants had found themselves dropped from the curriculum or dropped out of their own accord.

"Before we get to team assignments, the class rankings are posted at the front of the class on the board."

Despite many of the occupants of the class vacating their seats to get a look at the final results, with my extraordinary sight I could see the details even from the back of the classroom.

 _Mina Hyuga - 234 points_

 _Sasuke Uchiha - 219 points_

 _Neji Hyuga - 215 points_

 _Iwaizumi Nara - 172 points_

 _But where was lee on the list?_

"NO!" I blurted out causing several people to look my way.

 _Lee wasn't dead last… he was 2nd to last place with 68 points._

"Everything alright Hyuga-san?" Watari sensei asked causing more people to glance over to me.

"Yes… My apologies for the disruption Sensei."

 _Fuck, is our team going to end up with this deadlast Ushijima Wakabae now? UNLUCKY - UNLUCKY! NEVER FUCKIN' LUCKY._

"Alright then, now that everyone has had a chance to see their scores, time to announce the new team assignments. Team 14 _: Kogetsu Kohaku, Tatsyua Shibata, Armani Subaru, and instructor Anko Mitarashi_ … Team 13: …"His voice trailed off being overpowered by my conscious thoughts.

"Looks like the three stooges got paired together..." I heard Neji whisper.

I would have found it hilarious that Neji also adopted my nickname for _them_ if I wasn't stressing so hard over the team selections.

 _If Lee doesn't make my team, does that mean Guy Sensei won't be our instructor?! It would make sense since Guy would be one of the only sensei's to be able to make anything of Lee, but Guy is too valuable to lose out on, who could possibly fill his place?!_

"Team 11 _: Neji Hyuga, Iwazumi Nara, Tenten Fuji, and instructor Raidō Namiashi_ …"

 _Lee is still up for grabs, and so is Guy sensei!_

My palms flew together into an unconscious prayer. If I could wish for one thing at this moment, it was for the dream team.

 _Come on baby!_

"Team 9: _Mina Hyuga_ -"

 _Come on - come on!_

"- _Sasuke Uchiha_ -"

 _Lee! Lee! Lee!_

"- _Rock Lee, and instructor Maito Gai_."

"YESSSS!" I found myself exclaim springing from my seat a fist punching the air.

Sensei chuckled at my outburst. "Yes! I'm Glad you like your squad." He said with a flamboyant smile. "That's it for squads with Jonin instructors, anyone who didn't hear their name called report to the genin core assembly hall tomorrow at noon for assignments. For all of those who made it on a Jonin instructional squad, congratulations, stay behind to meet your captains, the rest of you are dismissed."

Lee shot up the stairs to the back of the room, standing behind Neji seated at my left.

"We did it! We made it into the same squad my eternal rival."

"I know. I'm so happy with our assignments." I said noticing Neji wince. "What? You knew we couldn't be paired up together."

"I got placed with the infuriating Nara."

"I thought you didn't like him because he was unmotivated. He ended up only being 40 points behind you. That's pretty good, right? He might have even claimed the Ace rookie rank from a different class."

"Once a failure, always a failure." He said in a huff.

"I thought you were over this preordained destiny stuff. Maybe he just matured at some point. Gotta grow up some time, am I right?"

My words were meant to be consoling, but I guess it would have been hard to have been taken that way while I was still grinning ear to ear like an idiot.

"Excuse me." He said, standing up with his chair squeaking against the floor.

Lee slid into the now vacant chair instantly his grin widening.

"What do you think our sensei will be like? Do you think he will have a scar on his face? Proof of his countless battles from which he's prevailed. Or Maybe-"

"Lee, calm down. Speculation is meaningless. Just wait patiently and find out like the rest of us." Sasuke said.

I watched nonplussed as Neji wandered out of the classroom.

 _Where could he be going?_

Sasuke coughed fakely catching my attention, causing me to glance over to my right.

"Your... new hairstyle suits you well."

My chest lurched. The compliment turned my mind white, perhaps short circuiting my neural pathways or something, I couldn't be sure. A warm sensation spreading over me.

I had figured I wanted to try something new, so inspired by the prostitute I visited last night, I got my hair restyled before graduation this morning similar to hers. The same tuft of hair sticking out from the side of my head with a sacred blue lily pinned to it.

 _I didn't think the haircut would have such a positive effect though. What a pleasant surprise._

"Yeah? It would look even better with your hands tangled in it."

"Like that would ever happen brat." He turned away unable to look at me.

"Aww, look Lee! I think I made him embarrassed."

"In your dreams. I've grown accustomed to your jokes." He finished crossing his arms on his chest.

"Who says their jokes?" Touching his nose gently with my index finger and giving a playful wink.

I was right. As pleasurable as the momentary physical stimulation was last night, It was empty in the end leaving me to question why I was so fixated on girls this whole time.

Was I trying to safeguard who I used to be? What does that even matter, I had changed so much, both mentally and physically from who I once was. At this point, I could settle for any gender as long as our connection was real, and I decided that fostering that connection with Sasuke shouldn't be too difficult. I could tell I was desirable to him, but much like myself, he was quite stubborn.

Capturing his affections would be a worthy challenge, and come with the added benefit of solidifying his loyalty even further.

Sasuke's cheeks pinkened just a shade, but it didn't escape my visual prowess.

 _I've still got it baby._

"You like Sasuke?" Lee asked too loudly causing several to turn their heads to the back of the room.

 _Okay, seems like everyone's eyes are on me._

I saw my opportunity like a sniper spotting a lense flare from an enemy scope on the battlefield.

 _This is my shot._

"I think what everyone wants to know, is if Sasuke likes me." I finished with a dastard smile.

The spotlight was now on the Uchiha, his hands folded together on the desk hiding his mouth from the spectators.

"I want to know who Sasuke likes!" Tenten shouted.

Several other girls chimed in mumbling in agreement.

He shrugged, indifferent to the attention, a smug expression exposed as his hands parted ways.

"Of everyone here, I suppose Mina has the best chance with me."

Below the desk, his heel ground into my toes all while not dropping his act to the rest of the class.

I pinched at his side, careful to bypass the audience's eyes.

"I'll get you back for this." He mouthed from the corner of his lips, still grinning confidently.

Many of the other females' gazes flicked between Sasuke and I fighting between jealousy and understanding.

"I guess it kinda makes sense for those two to end up together. No one else is in his league."

I shielded my face from the class with a hand then poked my tongue out of my mouth mocking him. "At least now some of your fangirls will leave you alone loser."

His lips curled into a miniature smile, the pressure from his foot atop mine growing uncomfortable.

Where I had been pinching his side, I instead dug a nail into him, but his grin only grew wider to my annoyance.

It would seem neither of us knew how to concede ground, escalating our childish engagement to their limits within the classroom without drawing attention to ourselves.

"You guys like each other, right? But all you do is tease each other and fight. I just don't get it." Lee said dejected with slumped shoulders.

"Love is like a battlefield Lee, and Sasuke here thinks he's the dominant." I replied back still holding eye contact with the unrelenting Uchiha.

"Think? I am the dominant between us now. Who's the one that's been shirking away from sparring and joint practice?"

"Okay - for one, that's not what I was talking about when I said _dominant_ , and two; I'll still clap those cheeks in spars."

"I-" Sasuke started, but was interrupted by a flash bolting into the room. The figure stopped masterfully striking a cheesy pose with an arm overhead, and the other bent overhead with his eye gazing out the hole in his hand making the _OKAY_ sign.

"Konoha's Sublime Green Beast, The captain of squad 9 is here to lead you through the sweet and sour of your blossoming youth - Maito Gai at your service!" He boomed.

Sasuke's eye twitched, then turned back to me leaning close with his hand shielding his mouth.

"Is… is our captain an idiot?"

"He's certainly unique." I said giggling.

Lee stood up in his chair in a gasp. "Gai sensei is spectacular! Did you see his entry everyone? That is my sensei!"

"Err… Rock Lee right? Your enthusiasm is commendable! You're a shining star in your springtime of youth!" His cheeks contorting forming dimples and exposing his radiant pearly white chompers. He stuck his thumb up towards Lee. "I approve!"

Lee clenched both hands into fists raising them head level, his eyes burning with a fiery passion.

"I already have sensei's approval? I'll have to give it more than my all now! I will be a splendid ninja and make you proud!"

A few in the room burst into spurting laughter, but made attempts to muffle it.

"Is that Lee's dad?" I heard someone ask as more whispers spilled out of the audience watching our instructor and teammate make fools out of themselves, but since I cared about very few peoples opinions, I figured it would be fun to join in on the action.

"I will become Gai Sensei's number One most dependable junior!" I shouted, standing and striking a pose holding a single finger in the air.

Maito Gai clenched his gut and let out a hearty laugh. "Seems like my team is brimming with style! Team 9, let's head out!"

He spun around, strolling to and out the door, the rest of the team including myself leaving to follow.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"All of you have sweat and worked to get where you are today. So tell me, who are you? What do you like, dislike, and what are your future dreams?" Sensei asked standing atop the academy building on the rooftop gazebo. "Let's start with you gloomy. What's your story?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha. I have a lot of dislikes, and very few things that I like." He said, our eyes connecting for a brief moment before turning his attention back to sensei. "As for a dream of the future? I wouldn't sum up my ambition as something as light as a dream, because I will make it a reality. I will kill a certain man, and inevitably restore my clan back to prominence."

 _When he said that type of thing in cannon, he meant Itachi, but him and myself are the only people that know he's actually now talking about Danzo._

It felt good to be on the inside of things. Being lost and clueless just doesn't suit me.

"I see. A passionate flame burns within you Sasuke-kun. You have something you strongly want to protect, whether that's your ideals, your pride, or whatever it is. I can see it drives you immensely. Welcome to the team."

He eyed me next. "Hmmmmmm? Mina your next."

"Mina Hyuga, but you all knew that. I like surpassing my limits and challenging myself to grow both as a person, and as a ninja. I dislike anything done half-assed and people who don't use their brains. My dream is to become the first S ranked shinobi to come out of the Hyuga clan and be immortalized as a legend."

"I see. Yes. And What about you Lee?"

"I want to prove that I can become a splendid ninja with only Taijutsu! I want to prove it to my eternal rival, and the whole world!" He shouted loud enough that the local birds roosting in the tree to our right fluttered away with a few chirps.

"Hmm!" He grunted "Yes, I see all of you are eager to hone and prove your talents. This team has what it takes, I'm sure of it, so I won't even bother giving you guys my real preliminary test, but a test has to be issued regardless, so we are going to play a game of rock, paper, scissors, and each of you must beat me, but I will only be using rock."

"Your… going to only use rock sensei?" Lee asked confused. "If we know that, how can you beat us?"

"Lee, Lee, Lee. Why would I want to win when I could have you three as teammates?"

We went through the motions, one by one we dueled Sensei, each of us throwing out paper and winning without issue.

"As of this day forward, I will be your Sensei, and I will protect all of you, my dedicated pupils. Gather around Team Gai!"

He ushered us in with his hands then stuck his arm into the center of us all, flashing us his teeth in a bright charismatic smile. "Hmm? … HueeeeemmmMMMMMMM!" He hummed loudly increasing his volume towards the end, Lee quickly following suit, throwing his hand on top of Gai Sensei's.

A quick chuckle, and then he looked my way. "HeeeeemmmmmMMMPPPHHHH!" He hummed.

 _What a character..._

I stacked my hand on top of the pile, a quick giggle by sensei in his victory, and then we all looked to Sasuke, who by now was the odd man out of the group.

I could tell by the look on Sasuke's face that he thought this behavior was beneath him. His and Sensei's eyes were in a heated deadlock, stalemated forcing Gai to apply more pressure.

" **HMMMMMM! HUEEERRRRRRMMMM! HEEEEUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!** ~ heheh." He finished with a nod, Sasuke's hand finally landing on the pile. "Fight for your dreams and ambitions with the full power of youth my pupils! Team 9 on three, ONE, TWO, THREE-"

" **-TEAM 9"** We yelled in chorus.

"-FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Gai chanted. Lee was the only one to follow sensei's lead heartedly chanting _FIGHT_ alongside the Elite Jonin.

Sasuke flashed me a look I could only describe as utter bewilderment nearly making me bust out into laughter. I fought it down, but I still found myself letting out small noises to keep the laughter dammed up.

"Tch... Hue-hmp" I struggled.

I don't think I've ever seen him look as confused as he was in that very moment. I wish I could have snapped a picture and saved that hilarious image forever, it was ' _that'_ priceless.

 _As much work as I put in to ensuring this teams formation, this specific detailed lineup coming together, I still had to admit that I was lucky that it all worked out. That I got to have such a wonderful team._

My hair snagged and pulled reflexively causing my hands to shoot to my head.

 _A warm critter had flown into my hair?_

My heartbeat increased in tempo as I messed with my hair grabbing at the intruder, until realizing what it was.

A hand, Sasuke's hands to be exact.

" _Your hands would look better tangled in my hair_ , that's what you said, right?" He asked loudly.

My cheeks burned from my embarrassment, I wanted to rebuke him, but for some unexplainable reason I stood there silent, letting him fondle away at my hair.

To say I wasn't enjoying it would be a blatant lie, but showing my pleasure was impossible. I would just take it quietly until he gets bored.

 _Mmmmhmmm._

"I told you I'd get you back. After all, I'm the Dominant." He whispered, hot air breathed into my ear breaking me from my bliss.

"I didn't know you two were so close." Gai said.

Goosebumps rose on my neck, and a few hairs stood on end.

"Oh yes, everytime I beat him in a spar, I make him do this for an hour." I lied not giving Sasuke an opportunity to explain himself further.

He sputtered behind me, his display backfiring in his face.

"It seems you both are in the springtime of your lives, aren't you?. Cherish these moments and never let the fire die!" He said giving us a thumbs up.

"But…" Sasuke started, yanking his hands out of my hair in the meantime. "Tch." He clicked his tongue of annoyance.

His plans, whatever they were, were too delicate to weather my interference. They were like a collection of fine china being introduced to a swinging bat, of course they would break and fall apart.

I spun around beaming from ear to ear leaning in closer to him.

"I am the _Dom_ , and don't you forget it." I whispered.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

After team formation, we were given the rookie genin jerk-a-round, tasked to complete medial D-rank missions that ranged from weeding gardens, repainting the interior of an apartment for a landlord, and reorganizing the public libraries census documents and birth certificates.

The reorganization of documents was no doubt given to us because my and Sasuke's familiarity of the library plus our workload we handled in the Konoha Military Police Force that came under new management.

A week passed by, and unlike Kakashi who would use the insignificant missions as an excuse to meander off on his own, our Sensei actually would assist and encourage us, stressing delegation of duties and teamwork the whole time, setting somewhat ridiculous mini goals for himself, and by extension us to accomplish the whole way.

"I will pick these weeds while walking only on my hands."

I'm not going to lie, I tried my best to mimic Gai at the time, also getting into a handstand, but I didn't quite have the balance to hold myself one handed while picking weeds, and Lee looked even goofier in his attempts, falling forward into a tumble, or backwards and landing on his back repeatedly.

"We'll have to work you guys up. Let's start you off on only one leg."

I have to admit, even doing the most mind numbing tasks, things were never boring when Sensei was around. He had this gift of making what should have been the ordinary extraordinary with just his presence.

I already had respect for the man, even if his intellect was lacking just a wee bit, but I found myself admiring him more and more the more time we spent together.

His charisma was infectious. Sasuke found himself joining in on Gai's challenges as well, bitter because of having been swept up in the leaf hurricane that was Maito Gai.

"Jonin's really are on another level… We aren't even close after all the time we've put in!" Sasuke spat, throwing his kunai to the ground in a hissy fit.

One thing that people might not know about the Uchiha if not close to him, He isn't afraid of expressing his emotions, but because his emotions are primarily dealing with his anger, he can't lash out at every second of every day. He would come to a tipping point, where he managed to keep calm and was fully under control until finally snapping like New orleans dam levees during hurricane katrina. His disposition would change from his normally stoic self to a heated impulsive mess in an instant.

He leaned against the base of a tree, wide enough that 5 people with their arms extended couldn't wrap around the tree completely. Absentmindedly, my fingers played with the exterior bark weathered and coarse to the touch.

We were at one of our usual training grounds out in the wilderness tucked away in a corner taking a breather from our sparring. Well, I was taking a breather, Sasuke had been throwing Kunais trying to bounce pairs of them into new trajectories.

 _I think his work ethic might have surpassed mine… but not all of his training is efficient. If he took a second to slow down and think, He'd probably make more progress in the long term while not burning the candle at both ends._

An ant crawled off the tree and onto my hand, the tingling sensation of each step it made was relaxing - until it bit me. Annoyed, I flicked it off, it impacting the tree and ricocheting into the tall yellowing grass and weeds.

"Are you listening?"

"Hm? - Uh, yeah, your crying over not being Jonin level yet."

He sat up straighter, a scowl plastered across his face not subtracting from its aesthetic appeal.

"How can we take down S ranked ninja's if even Jonin is out of our reach? Am I the only one who's concerned here?"

I yawned, not a care in the world right now, sprawling out more and stretching my back. A quiet moan as I ripped up some grass by its roots producing a calming natural aroma.

"No, I'm not happy about it either, but if you work on upping your speed a bit more, and increasing your arsenal of jutsu's, especially other peoples jutsu's you can copy, and I work on my speed, Taijutsu, and incorporate my puppetry into combat, we should be sitting pretty good. Worrying about it is a waste. And I should know, I used to worry so much I got a stomach ulcer. I learned my lesson and when i'm not strategizing or training, I chill and take some me time, ya know?"

"Every waking moment, all I can think about is my revenge. Relaxation is a distraction that only serves to separate where I am now, and my future goals."

Hearing him say that only made me further realize how unhealthy my own vendetta against the damnedable god was. Not so long ago I was just like that… Well, maybe If I didn't have Izuna I would still be like that.

"Sasuke, I'm a genius - right?" I probed batting my eyelashes at him.

"Mhmmmmm…" He replied drolly.

"I spend plenty of my free time figuring out new ways to improve you. The time I've bought you, the spare time that you have now that you are much further advanced than you would be without my help, you owe it to me. So I demand you fucking chill, and start paying me back by laying over here in the grass with me. The world isn't going to pass you by if you blink, I promise." I said patting the ground next to me, and turning my attention back to the clouds.

"Grrr…"

 _Did he growl at me?! … Well at least he listened and is lying down like I asked._

I used to scoff at the idea of cloud watching. I internally ridiculed Shikamaru all those years ago for wasting his life away, but it seems I still have a lot to learn. The more I grow and learn, the more I realize that I'm not as wise as I thought I was. The dunning kruger effect in all its glory ladies and gentlemen. Knowing about it only helped manage my expectations, but managing expectations, and knowing the extent of your own ignorance are vastly different from each other.

The only consolation is realizing that most people are just as blissfully ignorant as I first expected. When it came to wisdom, the majority of my competition was a bit underwhelming despite being no sage myself.

"Mina-kun?" a familiar voice called out.

I leaned back further, swinging my legs overhead then whipped my legs back, catching myself on my feet half crouched.

"Ebisu-san?" I said holding the special-jonin's gaze. Well, I couldn't really see through his thick black sunglasses even with my visual prowess, but from the angle of his face, there was little doubt he was staring right at me.

"I was looking for you and finally found you." He said pushing his glasses further up his nose grinning.

"Yeah? Okay, so why did you want to see me?"

"I guess I'm going to take off." Sasuke said now off the ground, his eyes narrowing before turning his back and kicking off the ground onto a tree branch bolting the other direction.

"The honorable grandson has been talking about you non-stop since your graduation. He has come to respect you from the stories he's heard, but he would like to see the genius prodigy for himself. As a former teacher, perhaps you could do this man a favor and drop by sometime?"

 _Konohamaru? Isn't he an incompetent snot nosed brat? Urrrggghhh! ...Still, I do owe Ebisu a favor, and the idea of leaving that unpaid is vexing…_

We stood in silence for a brief moment before I broke it.

"I guess I'm free now, so why don't we head over?"

"Excellent. The young master has been progressing beautifully in his studies, but he lacks a competent role model close enough to him in age. I'm sure this will be good for him, and I appreciate you giving him your precious time."

 _This man must powder his nose every few hours to hide how brown it is from burying it in peoples' asses. But... I guess it wasn't altogether displeasing, just feels a bit disingenuous is all._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"Wow this is her!? You can manipulate your skeletal system at will? Huh? You can show me right?"

"Hold your horses kid, I literally just walked through the door."

Konohamaru bounced around looking like an energetic puppy, his chin tilted up, taking turns flashing me both inquisitive and excited faces.

"Sorry, he doesn't usually get this wound up. Honorable grandson, your acting a fool." Ebisu reproached.

"What's the difference between normal eyes and the Byakugan? I heard you can see chakra and peoples pathways with it on, does that interfere with your standard vision at all?"

 _This is to be expected I guess…_

Konohamaru's room large enough to cram 40 or more people in it standing. The Hokage's Residence was also well furnished. Many sofa chairs with padded cushions were placed in various locations, as well as tables, cabinets, and bookshelves. It was strange how many books he had. They were shelved, laying atop desks, and stacked in piles across the floor. He probably had a small fortune worth of reading material in his room to be honest

I tried to remember back to when I was actually 7 or 8…

 _What grade would I have been in? 2nd or 3rd? Yeah - and back then I read at a 10th grade level at the minimum, but had to have read less than 20 real books by myself, and maybe another 30 If i included books read to me out loud. How advanced is this kids reading having seemingly read so much material?_

Picking up a random book off the stack, the title read: _Magnetism and Magnetic Materials._

 _Yeah, I wasn't reading this kind of shit at his age._

Setting the book down back where I found it, I paced around in the vast room, the timberwolf grey tiles clicking with each step. The walls were bent in a large arc as the building itself was shaped like a dome. A row of six windows all leaked light into the room, the sun descending from its peak in the sky.

"Come on! Just a little demonstration? Pleeeeeaaaaaseeeeee." The kid begged.

It was then when I realized the strange ensemble he was wearing. Khaki shorts and a button up shirt. He was also without that ridiculous scarf he carried around everywhere in cannon.

 _What in the world could have changed him so drastically? Is this evidence observable proof of the butterfly effect? That any and all changes made to a timeline will distort a universes future?_

Spotting my reflection in the window, a grin slipped on my face replacing whatever face I had made while lost in thought.

My spine crowned out of the skin covering my back, it bending and writhing like a serpent.

"I can change its shape, size, and density through the manipulation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which are cells that produce and destroy bones respectively." I said giving my informed version of the Shikotsumyaku explanation.

 _Sasuke always teases me when I get lost in thought. How can he always tell? I wish he'd tell me what my 'tell' is so I could manage to hide it better… Well, at least I hope I could hide it better..._

Observing myself in a mirror while thinking was impossible. It was a paradox, because when I drifted into thought, I would forget to see what I looked like, and by the time I remembered, I was too late.

 _They say the only sure things in life are death and taxes. If I were asked, I would respond that the only certain thing in life are questions. Behind every question is an answer leading to another question, or to an unsolvable paradox. Life is cruel that way, but I guess that's why the universe pumps out so many idiots. Because if in the end your questions are meaningless, why bother with them?_

I was different in that sense. Where people found meaninglessness, I found purpose.

 _So what if a new problem arises after solving the last? That doesn't mean to stop simply because a new problem takes its place. To stop is synonymous with death in my opinion. So in that sense, I suppose Being-X might already be dead - the arrogant pretentious bastard._

I got in the habit of something akin to autopilot during medial taskwork to free up more processing power for thought. It is one of my few ways to sneak more reflection in during the day for intellectual growth.

A firm knock sounded at the door, and in no time Ebisu-san was called into action for something or another. He stepped out, and somehow I was swindled into taking Konohamaru outside for a practical skills demonstration.

I had 4 of my shadow clones deathmatch each other while I comentated over the fights. What was happening, why I was making some of my choices, and the works. At the very least, with all the time I spent learning, I had to prove my conceptual mastery by teaching it, the highest level of demonstrated mastery of a subject.

My pride as an educator, even with this 7 year old, wouldn't let me cut corners in good conscious. But even in the diminished state of autopilot I managed to avoid cutting many corners. The practice must be deeply engraved in me at this point.

"See that? The weapon and armor durability are the same, so lowering impact surface area will increase force distribution to a smaller more compact area, resulting in more damage. That's how that clone broke through the others defense even though they were the same materials."

If I were to explain it simply, i would use a baseball bat versus a gold club analogy, but neither seem to exist in this world annoyingly.

"I see. That kekkei genkai is awesome, and it's gotta really high skill ceiling too, right?"

He was like a spunge. He picked up on every fiber of information and absorbed it, never needing a second explanation. This kids potential is huge.

 _How did Kishimoto underplay this kids talent so much? It's a travesty in all honesty._

Sweat seeped out of my pores from standing on the sidelines under the intense rays of the sun.

"Lemonaid?" The kid asked pushing a cup into my hand. He poured the transparent yellow liquid from a thermos keeping its contents cool.

The temperature of the refreshment soothed the lips, and the citrusy flavor left me downing it in minimal gulps.

"What about your Byakugan? Does seeing Chakra ever interfere with the vision of material objects?"

Raising my hand to my face and stroking my chin, I thought about what the best way to phrase it would be, before settling on: "The Byakugan's vision is kind of like two layers. Imagine one eye see's only chakra, and the other eye sees all material matter, except both eyes can see both layers simultaneously. It's weird, like two different images are in my head, but it's so natural to see it that way, they are hard to separate and is never confusing for me. I don't know, does that make sense?"

"Yeah. That makes sense. So it manifests as additional data to the brain and doesn't inhibit the standard vision at all."

"Yeah… But kid, your vocabulary is insane! How many books have you read?!"

"Uhh… I lost track. I have no idea."

I shoved him with an arm playfully. "Come on. A hundred? Two hundred?"

"Way more."

"Way more? How could you have had time to read way more books than 200. How long ago did you learn to read?" I asked before covering my mouth with a hand before burping. "Excuse me."

Konohamaru's face morphed from his happy-go-lucky giddy expression to a mischievous grin.

"I've had much more time to read than you, Mina Hyuga - _AKA._ Nick Cryslar."

My blood froze in my veins, alarm bells blaring in my brain all the while.

 _I hadn't been called Nick since my reincarnation._

I leapt backwards adding distance between us, my mind whirring at frightening speeds.

"Time flows mingling with chaos and chance in order to create miracles and shape fate. Anyone in opposition of this flow, orchestrated by the Singularity, are my sworn enemies."

"You - who ar-re you?!" I let out in an unequal tone.

"A man of science, given the name _Amadeus_ by the God of our universe."

A distinctly unfeminine snort escaped me at his words. "A man of science? Heaping praises to that demon. You must not be in your right mind."

"We're not so different, you and I. I had a debilitating disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It left me with minimal to no control over my muscles. Before the age of 21 I was confined to a chair, and soon lost my ability to speak. You had full motor functionality, and even had your sight, you were only prevented from playing sports. Get over yourself."

"Don't say it like that. My lifestyle was ripped from me purposely by that demon! It wasn't some fleeting trial, he gives and takes away at a whim!" I yelled.

"-Through all my research, I came to the conclusion that our universe was created with rules and laws too perfect for coincidence. Did you know water is the only chemical compound where it's physical state is less dense than its liquid state? If not for that, the world would be covered in ice, uninhabitable, and that's only a single miracle God set into motion for us. The amount of things that had to be perfect for the existence of humanity is more improbable mathematically than winning the lottery 5 times in a row, I've ran the computation through a super computer, so I would know. However, where we differ is very clear, your inability to accept God's grace and your blasphemous undermining of his efforts is unredeemable."

 _If he was talking like this without a care in the world, I had already fallen victim to his trap, what was it?!_

"Dues lo Vult - God wills it. So I have faithfully carried out our God's orders," he said.

With a hyper analytical razor, I pruned my gathered insights dividing the useful information and foregon assumptions from the useless.

 _The Lemonaid! That bastard poisoned me?!_

As if arriving at the conclusion was a trigger to unleash the toxin's effects taking root in my body, my blood's circulation was strained evident by the purpling of my skin at my fingertips.

My hand flew into my mouth jamming several fingers down my throat batting at my uvula.

" **UrrWWAAAHHhhh!"** I gagged emptying the contents of my stomach into the grass.

Thick strands of saliva hung suspended from my lips, and I wiped them away on my shoulder not caring for edicate or decency.

My vision blurred… then distorted into two fuzzy pictures side-by-side. Double vision if you will.

I was caught in an invisible blizzard, chilled to the bone and shaking.

 _I'm going to die… Like this? To Being-X's fucking pawn?! NO! I REFUSE!_

 _ **LEON COME.**_

There was a click, and suddenly I was flung from the driver's seat to the passenger in a moment.

 _ **Izanagi - Izanagi - Izanagi!**_ Izuna's voice rang through my head.

The distorted picture regressed into clarity returning to focus.

"Byakugan!" I heard myself shriek.

A tempest of spawning tendrils swarmed the evangelical extremist in sheeps clothing.

 _ **Bzzt**_

He warped from his location replaced with a wooden log.

 _A substitution._

 _ **I know slow-fuckin'-idiot, I'm already 3 steps ahead of you.**_

We warped out of where we were into a space a few hundred meters further into the clearing leading to the forest's revine.

Again, the silverish tendrils manifested sailing through the sky towards Amadeus.

But his bracelet flashed with a bright blinding white light, warping away.

Izuna substituted, and substituted hot on his tail, the clouds of smoke from every jutsu finding its way into our lungs, but nothing would stop him now, his thirst for bloodshed wouldn't be quenched until Being-X's pawn was lying in a lifeless heap, and I didn't blame him.

 _How are his substitutions so fast, and longer distance than ours?_

The back of the child was pulling away, getting further and further until nearing the edge of our enhanced vision.

 _ **FUCKKKKKKKKKK!**_

The picture of the environment around us tinted over with a black film, our chest heaving in animalistic rage.

Tendrils spawned wrapping around a tree constricting around it until it snapped in half bisecting it.

The bark split apart like a cracking inferno of a fire. Like chinese firecrackers all being set off in one grand finale.

The towering monstrosity of a tree leaned over, gravity pulling it down to earth. The air parting ways around it, slowing down its decent with a whistle, until it found it's target - slamming to the ground with massive seismic vibrations that crashed into my body like turbulent oceanic waves sweeping me off a foot, but Izuna catching us stomping the foot back into the ground with a primal roar.

I watched dumbfounded as Izuna pulled himself out of his rampage.

 _ **I could have killed him… I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CONTROL SOONER!**_

 _He would have just fled sooner. Your being emotional. At least we got information out of him since he thought we were already dead._

 _ **INEXCUSABLE! YOUR FUCKING TRASH AND YOU KNOW IT. YOU ALMOST GOT US KILLED. POWER IS THE ULTIMATE EQUALIZER AND YOU HAVE NONE.**_

 _Like you did much better asshole, besides, knowledge is power, and my analytical mind obviously surpasses yours, or at minimum when your like 'this' it does._

I was arguing with myself.

Down the spiraling rabbit hole of madness I have succumb.

"Hello darkness my old friend..."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _A/N: Hello, It's been a while since I released a chapter for you guys, and It's been a work in progress for some time. This chapter and life has fought me the whole way, but finally here it is, even if it came out kicking and screaming. FYI - Konohamaru is a reincarnated soul given a canon characters body. He is partially inspired by the great Stephen Hawking. Also, as a side note, god writing Guy sensei/Gai sensei was fun. What a top tier personality that man has, am I right?_

 **Reviewer Question: - Did you anticipate Konohamaru's plot twist coming? I tried to foreshadow it as best as I could without making it too obvious. I'd love to know how you all thought I did.**

…


	37. Chapter 33 - (Volume 2)

**Article 37 - Chapter 33 - Smooth Operator**

* * *

 **-Volume 2: Subarticle 2-**

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

I watched dumbfounded as Izuna pulled himself out of his rampage.

 _ **I could have killed him… I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CONTROL SOONER!**_

 _He would have just fled sooner. Your being emotional. At least we got information out of him since he thought we were already dead._

 _ **INEXCUSABLE! YOUR FUCKING TRASH AND YOU KNOW IT. YOU ALMOST GOT US KILLED. POWER IS THE ULTIMATE EQUALIZER AND YOU HAVE NONE.**_

 _Like you did much better asshole, besides, knowledge is power, and my analytical mind obviously surpasses yours, or at minimum when your like 'this' it does._

I was arguing with myself.

Down the spiraling rabbit hole of madness I have succumb.

"Hello darkness my old friend..."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 33 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Hiruzen POV)**

The wooden pipe held between my fingers slipped. The object clunked off the floor spitting the freshly packed tobacco out like fragments of an exploding grenade. A faint ringing filled the room serving to distance me from the here and now.

"Repeat yourself." I commanded switching my focus between the young Hyuga and the mess I created.

"Konohamaru baited me into visiting him through Ebisu-sensei, and when he managed to get me alone while I was instructing him, he turned on me and attacked me. His power far surpassed what I expected, but was able to fight him off. The leader of my summoning clan did exceptional work versus him, and caused him to retreat. I have my suspicions that the person in question was either not actually Konohamaru, or he was being controlled by a third party whose strength is exceptional, either way, I think their objective was either to capture me or kill me."

Leaning forward folding my hands together, I stared down the girl before me. I scanned for the standard tells that would indicate they were with-holding or fabricating information, but nothing conclusive could be drawn with such simplistic means.

 _These old ears aren't failing me… The story is exactly the same as before, just retold. No misunderstandings confirmed thus far, but that would mean..._

"You believe Konohamaru was a replacement?" I asked needing confirmation.

"Yes my lord."

Glancing back to _his_ private tutor, to a person entrusted to school the next generation's gifted, I had a question that needed answering.

"Had my grandson been acting differently or strangely prior to this? Any changes in usual behavior or anything which could lead you to believe that he was replaced or manipulated?"

"He acted exactly how I came to expect since I've known him. His thirst for knowledge lead him to childish excitement when meeting Mina for the first time, which was understandable considering how much I had built her up on a pedestal and all the questions he wanted to ask her. Nothing seemed out of place before I left." The special Jonin recalled, his voice breaking his uniform tone several times telegraphing his out spilling emotions.

 _A thirst for knowledge… potential kidnapping... No, It couldn't have been… could it? Konohamaru was like that for as long as I can remember, and he couldn't have been replaced by Orochimaru, masquerading as my grandson all this time… There is something significant missing here. A thread that connects all of this together I'm not seeing… Hmmm, but what is it?_

I tried to piece together the puzzle to see the complete picture. For unexplainable reasons, the more I dwelled on the matter, the more I found myself staring at the Hyuga. While our eyes were locked together, my skin crawled.

 _Can I come up with a good enough of an excuse to have the Yamanaka's investigate her memories now that her brain has matured enough to not sustain permanent damage from it?_

I leaned over sideways, bending down fetching the wooden pipe from the floor, I turned it over in my hands several times lost in thought.

 _Hmmmm…. Hiashi-san would not take another investigation laying down unless I appealed to him asking as a personal request, but even that is pushing the envelope a bit. Decisions, decisions…_

My temples burned with pain. Thoughts spun endlessly inside the old noggin, but I was unable to untangle the many converging problems. Resolving them separately seemed impossible. They would need to be tackled together. It was that realization that resulted in thinking myself into a headache.

"Mina-kun, thank you for your report of the incident. I extend my deepest thanks to you in these troubling times. You may have yourself checked out at the hospital now or simply relax. I'll be pulling your team off missions for the next few days."

She bowed in respect, her hands still tucked away behind her. "Yes, thanks for your concern Sandaime-sama."

She turned, her hands transitioning from behind her to infront of her masking them from view.

During the brief moments where her hands were visible, I noticed them gittering as if they were cold.

Guilt rose within me realizing that her sturdy appearance was in all likelihood a fabrication. That despite my instincts whispering to me that she was a monster who could not be fully trusted, the reminder that she was still very-much-so human tugged at my heartstrings holding my curiosity in check.

The girl left the office space through the door, closing it softly behind her.

 _I can leave these matters for another time, what I must focus on is the recovery of Konohamaru and the discovery of the truth._

"Hound, I need you to lead an investigative and tracking unit."

A tile from the roof shook as it fell back into place, An anbu dressed in traditional garbs with a dog mask landing before the desk on one knee.

"Split resources evenly between investigating the initial site, and finding Konohamaru's trail to recover him."

"If that is your request, consider it done Third-sama." Kakashi's voice quipped from behind the mask.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

 _I had thought I could tell the agents of Being-X apart by the solid black eyes signaling the manipulation, but it seems that was only wishful thinking._

My hands trembled uncontrollably. Medically, I knew this condition as neurogenic tremors. They normally would go away after the stimuli vanished, however they didn't start shaking until after the battle, and they were still going strong.

Visiting the hospital to have myself checked out would jeopardize my teams reinstatement and perhaps call my competency into question. A shinobi's effectiveness on missions was how they would demonstrate their value. Being pulled from missions would tarnish my reputation which was unacceptable not to mention a blatant display of weakness.

Flashes of my blurring vision, of the chilling of my body, and of my purpling fingers kept creeping back into my head. It was a close call, I had almost been killed without any warning.

I had long since defeated my fear, cutting it out entirely. Emotions that worked against my goals were discarded cold turkey like how a smoker quit by ending all consumption without external assistance. The cravings for nicotine would sometimes niggle and torment much like how fear would attempt to worm its way back, but pushing it aside and ignoring it caused the fears attempts to return to come more and more rarely.

Even now I don't feel fear, only an empty intrinsic cold sensation reminding me of what I left behind.

 _Why won't they stop shaking, Damnit!_

Gripping my wrists tightly, the shaking calmed marginally.

 _I can overcome this. It's just a phase. A psychological reaction to stress that will soon pass._

The reflection from my bedroom mirror showed a girl who had lost some of her composure.

 _ **Weak… You are still so weak…**_

I ignored Izuna's taunts. Once upon a time I had handled everything alone. Although that wasn't necessary anymore, I still knew deep inside that I was capable and competent. That these trials and tribulations would mold me into something stronger. They were like exercise, you break down the body and let it recover so that it comes back stronger. Everything that didn't kill me, I would turn into my strength. Overcoming each of my external and internal conflicts brought me another step closer towards my many goals.

I had lost one of my precious EMS eyes'. The eye embedded in Leon's forehead was shot and unresponsive. It's pupil had lost all pigmentation. The once luscious onyx black color was now a a more pure white than any byakugan I had ever seen. Whiter than my mothers, and even Hanabi's who is rumored to have the purest Byakugan in my generation.

I gnashed my teeth together over and over. I lost a valuable resource as the price to cheat death. It wasn't ideal, but then again neither was dying.

I let go of my wrists, and the shaking ferocity returned tanking my mood more.

Reaching for my bedside table, I retrieved a comb and meticulously fiddled with my hair. Running the teeth through the tangles until none were left, and then combing it of compulsion again and again and again.

The repetitive strokes were calming, and the sensation of the plastic scraping at my scalp was my therapy.

Little by little while hours passed, the tremors faded.

I hated things done half assed. Stopping part way was inconceivable.

 _I can persevere until the very end. Setbacks, after all, are only temporary._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Some days later, I stood on the edge of the roof of the building I nicknamed _'the Parthenon'_ despite the Highfliers calling it Jagannath. My relationship with the former elder, master Willzyakk, had grown over the time I reigned as their summoner.

Wind swept red dust into the air, the grainy texture whipping into my skin carried by the forceful gusts of the summit.

My hands flashed in and out of signs until I stopped, static caking my fingertips while the electric snapping sounded.

A bolt of yellow current shot out from my index finger reaching across the air in a jagged pattern until reaching a wooden dummy target, splintering and igniting it into flames.

My index finger pointed to a new target, my thumb held in the air pointing up while the rest of my fingers curled into my palm resembling something of a 'hand' gun.

 _ **Zzzzzt -**_ another bolt shot out striking the dummy in the center of the bullseye this time.

Willzyakk's wings folded together, his talons flying in and out of signs himself, an enormous amount of static building from the surroundings.

The energy condensed between the tips of his wings into a sphere of crackling yellow energy. The current bolted forwards and split forking into three attacks all striking the training dummies on his side at once obliterating them into ashes.

"It seems you still have a ways to go before reperfecting this nature transformation Izuna-sama."

"Yes, it's unfortunate being reincarnated in this body has caused me to lose the mastery over jutsu I once held. The sharingan will be enough to keep the raven's at bay in the meantime. Their numbers certainly pose a threat with their mobbing tactics, but ever since my recovery and their run in with my susanoo it seems their will to wage war has vanished for now."

"The Highfliers have held their superior quality over the Raven clan indefinitely, responding with numbers is all they could manage. We would have repelled their attacks, but with your assistance we also crushed their morale."

The familiar sensation of a clones consciousness merging with my own alerted me to the knowledge that the Sandaime finally summoned my team, so I would need to return to Konoha.

"Thanks for coming out here with me." I said with a deep bow. The bird loved to be shown respect, and in a sense it was my way of managing him and keeping him happy. "It seems I'm needed back at the village, so can you please return me?"

The gray sagely bird nodded its head, its beak setting into place weaving signs in a blur.

The tingling sensation of transport mixed with the visual informational overflow of the bending light of every color jarred me until returning back to my bedroom.

 _It's time for a new mission._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"We are being entrusted with a C-rank already? Is this because of my devotion to training Gai-sensei?" Lee asked with big puppy dog eyes.

"No Lee, you see, its something even more important. All of your abilities to cooperate together as a team to get the job done is how you've managed to score a C-rank mission before the rest of your peers. Fostering teamwork usually takes longer in new squads, but you all have made me proud to call myself your Sensei."

Our team dynamics weren't so cut and dry. Sasuke didn't value Lee's contributions and roles in the team, and his desire to boss him around conflicted with how I envisioned we would cooperate.

Sasuke's personality wasn't one to play second fiddle to his peers, especially those he judged as beneath him, but because I was the undisputed ace rookie, he grudgingly accepted when I insisted on taking more responsibilities than the rest of the team, one of those being able to command the team when Gai-sensei was unable.

I was the glue holding the team together, allowing each unique cog to do what needed to be done to complete jobs quickly and efficiently.

"So what did we get? Something challenging?" Lee asked.

Sasuke perked up at attention. Seemed he was also interested in hearing what we would be doing.

"The mission is for hired protection detail escorting a caravan of loggers transporting their goods to a buyer in the land of waves."

"Really? I have difficulty believing thieves would target logs to try to steal. Their big, heavy, and not all that profitable. Surely they could just find easier, more rewarding targets." I said losing a degree of interest.

"A nice and easy beginner C rank to build your experience, but don't go underestimating it now. A simple mission can hold unexpected and unforeseen challenges." Gai-sensei said in his energetic mentor voice trying to sound wise. "He who climbs the ladder must start at the bottom."

I drew closer to the Uchiha, bumping him with my hip.

"You excited loser?"

"Hm? For this joke of a mission?"

"-Remember, this mission will probably last 1-2 weeks, so pack accordingly." I heard in the background.

"Did you forget what Sensei said? _Don't go underestimating it now._ " I finished the last part mimicking Gai.

Sasuke let out a snort of laughter before reining himself in, pretending like nothing happened.

I bumped into him again with my hips, flashing him a grin.

"What?" He asked. His brows pulled together while his eyes partially closed, half lidded in disinterest.

I ushered him in closer, then leaned in to his ear. "I asked both elders if I could bring you to Mount Karamja like you asked."

He spun around, eyes pulled open wide like a bug nearly bulging now.

"Really? What did they say?"

"...They said it was up to me."

"Yes!" He said quietly pumping a fist.

"Hold on there. What makes you think I'll let you in just like that?"

His slight grin evened out into a deadpan expression, evidently not amused.

"Maybe if you carry my bag all the way to wave country I'll consider it."

"Tch. Why are you always such a brat?"

My hand brushed over his arm, a weak giggle escaping my lips. "Don't pretend you don't like it."

"Hn..."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The gates two doors were wide open. The worn green paint chipping here or there leaving small brown splotches up its length. A huge red kanji was drawn onto each of the interior of the doors which was used to seal the entrance when the doors closed. The information was given to me by Tokuma when I asked the first time I was allowed to walk through these gates back immediately before the Uchiha massacre.

The morning dew still clung to the tips of each blade of grass, the sun hung low in the sky to the east whose heat and intensity was gentle in comparison to mid-day.

"This is where we set out Team-Nine! This is our first mission outside the village, so remember… to enjoy it while you can. You won't be young like this forever, so take advantage and cherish what you have now! Heh-heh." He finished with a cheery smile, a wink, and his stereotypical thumbs up.

"Gai-Sensei is so wise!" Lee gushed.

"You'd better believe it!"

Sasuke who was leaned against the wall immediately before the gate, pulled himself straight and approached.

With no verbal or bodily communication, he snaked his arm beneath one of the straps of my travelers bag, jerking it off and swinging it onto his free shoulder.

 _Wow, I was kinda joking yesterday, but I guess I'm not going to tell him that now!_

Lee arrived in a vibrant green jumpsuit, the first time I had ever seen it in person. His hair was also cut from his shaggy doo into the bowl cut which in my past life had known him for.

 _He must have gotten it yesterday or something. Was Gai-sensei already taking him under his wing? I need to get him to take me too so I can learn the inner gates technique._

"Are we taking turns carrying each other's things? I volunteer to carry everyone's things next!" He said chucking his bag towards Sasuke.

He stepped to the side, letting the beige pack fall to the dusty road.

"Don't assume things _Dead-last_. I'm not carrying your stuff, and you won't be carrying mine either."

"Hey! You didn't have to let my stuff fall to the dirt like that!"

"Hn, not my problem loser."

"If you are carrying Mina-kun's stuff, how come you won't carry mine?"

He turned his head back to Lee over his shoulder, a chillingly cold detached glance met Lee. "It's none of your business."

Gai-sensei vanished into a cloud of dust, reappearing beside Sasuke softly nudging him in the side with a vibrant knowing smile.

"Heh, your a smooth operator aren't ya kid?"

Sasuke didn't bother to respond to Gai, instead favoring to roll his eyes. Afterward, he took a couple steps forward.

"So are we leaving or what?" He asked.

Seeing that we were itching for an adventure, Maito waved at the gatekeeper chunin on duty as he walked past, not following protocol flashing the verification to leave the village, but I suppose in peacetime elite Jonin were excluded or hardly expected to dot every I and dash their T's.

Within moments, we stepped out from the village limits boldly into the world. Following close behind, we made our way to the logging encampment through side roads in the forest.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The earthy scent of freshly split lumber was mixed with burning coal. Sawdust caked the ground at the mill like it was dirt. Brawly men hauled pallets of split wood, long timbers, and tools here and there in a rush.

Buzzsaws, chopping, laughter, and grovely voices filled my ears even before we had stepped through the makeshift gate into the operational zone.

Gai waved over to a shift manager who kindly pointed us over to the storage warehouse in the distance where we were supposed to be.

Arriving at the building, a lanky man in a hardhat with loose pants held up by a work belt greeted us. He lifted the hardhat showing off his dark blue spikey hair with white and yellow flecks riddled throughout it. I could only assume it was either sawdust or dandruff.

His eyes were sharp despite the man's posture slumped and his clothing disheveled.

"You the Ninja team escourt to land of wind?"

"Land of waves." Gai-sensei corrected with a grin.

"Eh? Right - yeah I guess distribution was double booked today." He said scratching the back of his head staring at a clipboard. He glanced over to us at Gai's side, taking a step closer as if to inspect us before saying: "Listen up squirts and you might learn something. Believe it or not, Konoha's number one export is lumber. Where there's demand, there's money. No different than yall getting paid 'cuz of the demand for ninja missions, ya hear?"

A new man stepped out from the warehouse door, he was wearing some sort of heavy duty jumpsuit making him look something like an engineer.

"Boss, which ATL are we hitching to load number 412?" He said before noticing us and stopping in his tracks.

"Ah, Ishiji. Whichever one ya want, I don't give a damn. Come over and let me introduce you to your protective detail. This here is Konoha's Team-9." He said turning back to us. "-And this is my most trusted Logistics expert Ishiji Okabe. He'll be your boss on this mission in my stead, so take care of him will ya?"

The newly introduced man had medium length red hair, a broad chest and a protruding belly. He must have been more than 2 meters tall and obviously had done his fair share of physical labor in his lifetime from his physique and hardened banged up hands.

Pulling a package from his pocket, the slender 'big' boss retrieved a cigarette,lit it, and started puffing away. Grey clouds spurt out from his retreating figure as he audibly choked up a bit, his slender back growing thinner with distance.

"Sorry about him, he's been on the job for 30 years and stopped giving-a... _err_ , caring about formalities a long time ago. But like he said, the name's Ishiji. Glad to be working with you guys…" His face pulled my direction and he quickly added "-and gals of course."

I caught Sasuke sneaking glances my way, and after he was caught he pretended to be looking elsewhere.

"Glad to meet you Ishiji-san!" Lee said grabbing the man's hand and roughly shaking it.

"Nice firm handshake ya got yourself there kid. Ever thought of doing some Blue-collar work on the side? Good money in it for ya."

"Now don't you go trying to poach my precious pupils." Gai-sensei said before bursting into laughter to which the large Logistics expert shortly followed suit.

"Alright, Alright. Hahahahah, You guys are alright." He said resting his hand on Lee and Gai-sensei's shoulders. "Come on and follow me then. I'll show you what's up before we head on out."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"HEH?" I shrieked.

Before me stood a humongus iron and steel chariot the likes of which I had never seen before.

"Yup, there she is. This is probably the first time you've ever seen something like this huh? It's called a ATL which stands for _All Terrain Locomotive_. The names a bit misleading, as she can't just go over any terrain, but she doesn't require rails to operate giving freedom of direction. This here is a revolutionary form a travel to us non-ninja folks, and it can pull some heavy duty loads.

Several Large 10 meter long tracks, like a tank or bobcat in my last world, were all combined together underneath the grey oily monstrosity. Moreover, there were 5 of these ridiculous machines side-by-side.

"This is how we can haul hundreds of tons of lumber at once, we just attach on the trailer carts to one of these gal's and that's all she wrote. Max speed is only 5 miles per hour, but she gets the job done."

Seeing this creation made me doubt what kind of technology was really available in this world. I had never seen anything resembling an automobile here before, but then they went and made this thing. I guess there wasn't a necessity for the automobile to be created since most travelers can utilize chakra and can move at similar speeds to automobiles.

"Yup, just got to hitch 'er up and we should be good to hit the road."

We were able to relax on the side for a little less than an hour before all the preparations were complete. We leapt up past the ladder onto the landing platform to the cockpit where Ishiji was, and several of his crew. The 2nd in command was Reiner. A short dirty-blonde man with a head of curls. He was the 'rig' operator - rig being a slang term for ATL.

"Need to fire up a boiler if were plannin' on leavin' anytime soon." Reiner said.

"Well what-are-ya doin' just standin' around. Go fire her up?" He said shaking his head. "It's hard to find good help these days." He said.

"I heard that!" The blonde shouted from the distance having left the cockpit.

"You were meant to!" Ishiji shouted back, holding his belly as he chuckled. "I'm just bustin' his balls a little bit."

I couldn't help to break into uncontrollable laughter. I laughed and laughed until it finally died down and I wiped some tears out of my eyes.

I hadn't been exposed to people like this in a long time. it was wondrous and nostalgic, throwing me back to some good times from my past.

"I like how the girl is the one who loved that one. What's your name girlie?"

"Mina. And don't make the mistake of categorizing me with typical girls, i'm a one of a kind breed."

"Heh! You're alright too." he said patting my shoulder.

I could see Sasuke's back straightened ever so slightly from the physical contact between our boss and I.

 _Hmmm… Jealousy maybe? I guess It could just be protective instincts as well… Hard to say._

I slid the thought to the back of my mind while Ishiji shouted through his list of last minute checks before departure.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The noise of turbines spinning from the steam engine drowned out nearly everything else. To converse we had to shout at each other while remaining in the cockpit.

To make sure we could see threats coming, we split into two groups, Gai-sensei and Lee, and Sasuke and I. Lee and Sensei were stationed on the rig, while Sasuke and I moved back to about mid trailer of the chain being dragged by the rig.

The day came and past, and the machine squeaked to a stop. We set up camp for the night and took turns sleeping and conducting watchout duty in our pre-arranged groups.

Snuggled inside my sleeping bag, I wiggled around to get warmer. I ended up tossing and turning not able to get comfortable.

I purposely kept myself from packing a second pillow. Sleeping without a pillow to wrap my arms around kept me from falling asleep, but it was something I was going to have to get used to eventually. I'm sure even a sleeping bag was a luxury I wouldn't have from time to time.

 _Still…_

I watched the swaddled Uchiha's body rise and fall in a calm rhythm beside me.

 _He fell asleep without any trouble._

While watching him sleep, my mind flashed back to when we accidentally slept with each other at his compound.

My cheeks grew hot and I buried my face into my pillow in shame.

 _It was not hard to admit the allure of cuddling up with a warm body, the hard part was fantasizing about it… with him. Surely there is something wrong with me!_

Rolling my head over, I snuck a peak back at the sleeping Uchiha, his sleeping bag still rising and falling, his breaths released in a quiet but distinguished fashion.

 _Urrggghhhh I'm so dumb! I can't just go over and cuddle with him. I have to figure out a way to make him make the first move._

In a situation like this, making the first move is like waiving your right of power and telegraphing either your feelings or dependency depending on how you do it.

 _The one who makes the first move in this scenario effectively losses. I don't care how long it takes, I'll get him to want to cuddle with me… eventually…_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

The following days melded together. The distance wasn't too far, but the speed of travel was grueling. Not a threat in sight since our departure.

 _ **Wooooot Wooooooooot!**_

The steam engine blew out signaling us to return to the cockpit… but our shift shouldn't have yet been over.

 _Perhaps they encountered another problem with the course and would need to take a detour…_

Sasuke and I jumped from trailer to trailer up the chain's length until arriving at the rig.

"What's up captain?" I asked.

"Use your Byakugan."

The command left no room for discussion.

 _Byakugan._

My vision opened up revealing all surroundings within a 100 meter radius.

That's when I saw it.

"I see a group of what looks like hostile bandits 60 meters forward. I count 19, and at least 4 distinguished chakra signatures of potential shinobi."

"...I see," Gai-sensei said, his voice hardened. "Stop the rig here. My team will make contact with them and neutralize them if necessary.

It seems my first mission wouldn't go as smoothly as I thought. My lips contorting into a wicked grin.

 _To everyone else, this will be Mina Hyuga's premiere on the battlefield. Now It's my time to shine._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter, and for each and every one of your continued readership through my spouts of inactivity. I had some free time and forced myself to push out this chapter in a day so that I could get some more content out for you all. Not sure how well it came out, but hope it still holds a semblance of the quality i've been trying to maintain in recent chapters. I've got some fun stuff planned for this arc, not quite sure how long It'll be yet since I suck at predicting how many words/chapters something will end up being. Please let me know how you think I'm doing, your predictions and suggestions for the story, and any other comments you guys would like to make. You are the readers is a MAJOR part in what makes writing enjoyable for me. Half of it is watching my brain child take shape and getting to read it, the other half is watching you guys consume it and seeing your thoughts and opinions. I hunger to improve as a writer, and with each of your guy's help I will improve faster!_

 **Reviewer Question: - Do you guys find the dynamic forming between Sasuke and Mina as an endearing B plot, or is it something your tolerating as you read getting to the meat and potatoes that is the A plot?**

…


	38. Chapter 34 - (Volume 2)

**Article 38 - Chapter 34 - Confessions of the Self Indulgent**

* * *

 **-Volume 2: Subarticle 3-**

 **This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of Kobe Bean Bryant, a personal role model of mine, and a pioneer at the very cusp of giving everything you have to give to your devotions. May his inspiring messages and feats live on in our hearts immortalizing him as a Legend. Because Legends never die.** _ **(August 23, 1978 - January 26, 2020)**_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Mina POV)**

"I see a group of what looks like hostile bandits 60 meters forward. I count 20, and at least 4 distinguished chakra signatures of potential shinobi."

"...I see," Gai-sensei said, his voice hardened. "Stop the rig here. My team will make contact with them and neutralize them if necessary.

It seems my first mission wouldn't go as smoothly as I thought. My lips contorting into a wicked grin.

 _To everyone else, this will be Mina Hyuga's premiere on the battlefield. Now It's my time to shine._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 34 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Sasuke POV)**

Walking in formation, Gai-sensei lead the way toward the potential hostiles. Despite us moving carefully, the audible crunch of leaves would give our position away if they didn't know where we were already.

My nervous system was working in overdrive. The adrenalin making it difficult to stay as composed as I would be in training or sparring conditions.

Looking over my shoulder, my eyes met with Mina's who was the back of the formation. Her ferocious grin and the fire in her eyes made me question my resolve. Seems her condition might actually be better than in our practices and spars.

I was ashamed to have worried about her after seeing that, and scolded myself for having even a trace of doubt for either of us to begin with.

She nodded, her eyebrows tightening together at the same time. I nodded back in acknowledgement with my newfound resolve and turned my attention back in front of us.

"So what do we have here?" Gai-sensei's voice grabbing the attention of the entire group.

"So… this time Gato also hired foreign ninja to protect his lumber? Well this is awkward." One of the bandit's spoke up shrugging his shoulders.

"Our mission is the protection detail of the distributors and goods. It looks like you all were prepared to raid us, but as my word as Konoha's sublime green beast, I'll still allow you to retreat." He said pumping his fist on his chest.

 _Why is he avoiding a skirmish? We could have had the element of surprise but we forfeited it for THIS? Is Gai-sensei even a proper shinobi or am I missing something?_

A different bandit took a step forward from the group pointing to us. "Look at how green they are. It's just one man and a bunch of kids. If we take them out, wave country can still be salvaged!"

"Yeah! Come on Ninja, we already paid you and we can't turn back now or that devil Gato will 'own us'. It's now or never!"

"-I agree! If we turn around what will become of our families and loved ones? We must fight!"

Distinguishing the shinobi from the normal combatants was simple, they each wore a blue flak jacket indicating they were each of chunin rank or higher along with their headbands. From my studies, the insignia on their headbands' no doubt belonged to the Land of Rivers.

 _Enemy Shinobi changes this mission to at least a B rank. I might be able to explore how far I've come on this mission after all._

"Turn back… if not, you will lose and all without laying a finger on my pupils."

Gai-sensei took a single step forward, his shoes crunching into the earth as he roared into the air.

"AhhhhHHAAA" Gai yelled.

My gaze was transfixed on our captain. As goofy and unintelligent as he seemed, he was radiating a terrifying pressure that colored the air a tint of green. His skin transformed from a peachy tan to tomato red. His muscles which were already impressive expanded filling his uniform more fully.

 _What kind of technique is this?! This is really our captain?! It's like… He's a monster!_

His veins bulged from the visible side of his face and his exposed forearms.

"Gate of pain - Open." Gai said leaving most of the bandits quaking in their boots.

"He's in our bingo book! He's Maito Gai, Konoha's sublime green beast. An Elite Jonin who excels in Taijutsu. Don't separate or he'll single us out with bursts of speed!" A land of rivers ninja said pulling further from our captain as the other ninja's took steps back and huddled near him.

Chakra flooded to my eyes, the standardized colors morphing into different shades of white, black, grey, and red.

"If he's an elite Jonin then that means this is one of Konoha's elite starter teams. The kids should be highly valuable. If we can take a hostage we could trade it to destroy the lumber."

"Plotting to snatch one of my pupils in front of me? You guys are _BOLD_."

The green of Gai-sensei's jumpsuit bent into a line, my eyes barely capable of tracing his outline despite unlocking the third tomoe.

A ninja's hands flew together, but before making a proper hand-sign, their body broke apart like a firework flinging red gore and bones behind him, Gai's fist sailing through the body like scorching metal through a hunk of butter.

"Does anyone else have the bright idea of snatching my pupils?"

"Tengu formation!" a foreign ninja announced.

While they were skittering together, Sensei took another down in the blink of an eye, their body launched like a projectile out of a cannon into a modest hardwood tree. Their body wrapped around the tree and snapped like a toothpick.

 _He's insanely fast! Is this really the standard for elite-Jounin instructors?! I don't know if anyone I ever saw in my whole entire clan moved that fast. Probably Shisui-san… and maybe Itachi? Gai-sensei is as good as generational Uchiha talents like them? He can't be can he?!_

The enemy Shinobi who was likely the leader of the group snapped at the ninja to his side who quickly moved in front of the person giving commands. The commander wrapped his arms around his ally holding a kunai out as if he intended on killing him.

 _ **Poof.**_

The enemy ninja vanished, a thin veneer of smoke replaced him. From within the cloud I could make out a white haired girl - It was Mina.

 _No! If she's there then…_

I spun around catching the form of the substituted ninja making his full speed approach.

The Chakra behind my eyes leaked out catching the man in a genjutsu.

He was helpless, at least for the time being.

Without the time to think, my hands instinctively came together by ingrained muscle memory.

 _Horse - Tiger -_ [Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu]

The flame sailed over the defenseless buffoon. Unable to escape the torrent of fire, his skin ignited and seared like a cooking bug. The skin charred black, the man falling to the grass catching surrounding dried leaves ablaze in the process.

My attention shot back to the ongoing action, back to the others of my squad in terms of priority, so back to Mina.

The commander held Mina in a firm grasp, his kunai flashed across her delicate skin stopping only before reaching her carotid artery.

 _Whatever happens, that Kunai won't be able to strike a fatal wound so easily._

Still an inch or less away from her throat, the kunai reflected rays from the beaming sun. The commander's animalistic eyes promised the extra inch was next if anyone made a move, but those same fearsome eyes rolled up and into the back of his head. Upon further inspection, A crimson stained spike crowned through the top of his skull right out his head. Blood and greymatter poured down his forehead like a fountain, his legs giving way beneath him dragging his body to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The kunai slipped further while the dead ninja took his dive to the earth, but a white exoskeleton shielded her vital spot from being sliced.

"NINJA-SAN!" one of the bandits shouted, his voice tinged in disbelief.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Mina exclaimed. The same girlish figure who had scored a killing blow on the enemy commander already had her hands clasped into the clone seal.

 _She must have brought her hands into the seal while my back was turned to her. Impressive reactions._

Four clones appeared on the field rushing towards the bandits who seemed stunned their ninja contemporaries had all been slain in the blink of an eye.

The four clones form split apart making way for convergent bone spears lancing out encircling the bandits even as several tried to make a run for it.

Several of the bandits dropped their weapons and raised their hands into the air with fear evident on their faces, but a spiteful bandit threw out multiple shuriken towards my position. I managed to deflect them all with my kunai in hand with ease.

The bandits were caught in Mina's makeshift bone prison. Her lips pulled back exposing her teeth.

"Still mean to attack my team after your Ninja's were taken down? Are your heads empty?! Maybe if I crack them open and look inside I'll have my answer." She said, her voice as cold as I ever heard it.

"Wait." Gai-sensei commanded, but it was too late, her arm was already extended with her palm out. Chunks of bones bulleted out of her hand ripping apart the caged prisoners. The bone fragments ripped through most of the enemies flesh. The impact destinations were nearly all vital areas. Streaks of blood squirted out into the air splattering and staining the ground a goopy thick red. Lives were extinguished with extreme prejudice at the whim of the Hyuga genius.

She turned around to Gai-sensei, her face devoid of any emotion despite the faintest lingering traces of her buried anger.

"I'm sorry Sensei. At least I made sure to leave a couple so we could interrogate them for information."

"If they were already trapped, why would you kill them?"

"A smaller number would strain our resources less and be more manageable. I was keeping in mind mission efficiency and success."

The scene I bore witness to combined with the matter of fact way she tried to play off her slaughter left the hair on my neck standing on end.

 _She really was different._

The charred flesh of the Ninja I killed had a horrendous stench.

It dawned on me that I had taken my first life… but Mina had to have taken like, what 14? It's not like I hesitated, I knew what had to be done and my body followed my instructions. Not perfectly, my heart wasn't fully in it, so the power of the fireball didn't reach maximum potential, but it snuffed out a life all the same. Still, there was no restraint in her at all. She took many lives all without batting an eye, without my sharingan catching a single hint of remorse.

My stomach was heavy thinking about my kill, but she on the other hand appeared quite pleased with herself resting a hand on her chin and nodding at her handywork.

 _Can I… Can I really be her equal? Are we too different? How can I even emulate something like that, something that comes natural to her like boiling down lives to mission statistics without any prior experience. How many ninja's started off that way? Wasn't there some sort of period most ninja needed to acclimate to it? She was always all or nothing. She was a switch, she was either on or off._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Mina POV)**

All of my teammates after our engagement seemed to treat me differently. Lee was quiet, which was quite unusual for him, and it didn't help he kept staring at me like I was a carnival entertainer.

"If he's bothering you, I can go hit him." Sasuke said.

"No, he's fine. Don't worry about it."

I had demonstrated to them our difference. Unlike Sasuke and Lee who rounded out the team, I was already baptized by combat.

Sasuke had known I've killed sentient animals in the summoning realm, so it wasn't as big of a shock to him as it was to lee. All in all, It wasn't that big of a deal to be honest, but those were supposed to be my first human kills, and although I had already taken human lives selfishly for no other reason than to better my own position, it didn't make me superior to either of them. It was easier to respond to conflict with unfettered decisiveness, but I suspected neither of them would have trouble with that after more experience came under their belts.

Gai-Sensei was busy collecting information from the captives, and my two clones I left with the logistics team over by the parked ATL were still guarding them waiting for our return.

To my surprise, after the tension from combat drained from my body, my hands began to tremble.

I pulled them behind me before checking to see if Sasuke noticed, his eyes locked on me as I went to check.

My cheeks burned hot like a fire. I turned my head away from him with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Are you alright?"

"Of Course! I'm perfectly fine, it's just all my excitement all caught up to me after the combat finished is all… But uhh, can… you just keep this between us please?"

He leaned over squirreling his arm behind me resting a hand on top of mine.

"Heh, If that's what you want brat."

My stomach got a little queasy and fluttery. It's like If I was flying and then dove in altitude.

"Mhm. Thank you." I quipped.

My heartbeat hastened, but only enough for me to pick up on it.

He leaned over "You know, I thought you were completely unaffected by your first human kill, but your secret is safe with me."

 _Shit, that's what he thinks this is? Now he's going to think I'm some weakling. But I guess it's better than him knowing this is a recurring problem of mine. I need to overcome this before it becomes a serious issue._

His hand lifted up off mine returning back to his side to my dejection.

I scooted over in front of him tilting my head back shaking it gently. My hair swayed in front of him for a moment before I asked: "Run your fingers through my hair a little bit?"

"Why? Do you have blood in your hair?"

"No… I beat you in our last spar, so I want my reward is all."

"What? I never agreed to that. You made that condition up all on your own to make me look bad in front of Sensei."

 _Does he think that's the only reason I said that? He's so dense._

"... So is that a no?"

"..."

Pulling my body up off the ground, I turn around with a frown. "Fine. I bet Lee would do it for me if I ask. Hmph!"

As I made to walk off, something caught my wrist stopping me from leaving.

"Grrrr…" I heard behind me. When I turned around he was avoiding eye contact while biting his bottom lip. " _Kay, I'll do it_." He whispered.

Eagerly I dropped back to my butt. My mouth muscles were tense from the big grin that was hidden from him. I leaned back tilting my chin up to the sky.

A light tug jerked my head back making me stiffen my neck.

"Aaaaahh."

I shut my eyes in blissful serenity.

 _I'd never admit it to anyone, but I am putty in his hands. He is my kryptonite; he makes me weak. As long as I have Izuna, maybe that weakness isn't a compromising risk. Juggling my many masks becomes plain exhausting, and having someone I can be real with… even if those opportunities are becoming more rare these days, is still priceless._

"You should be more careful. I can't believe you were just in a position you could have died. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Aww, your so cute worrying about me-"

A forceful tug on my bunched up hair in his grasp snapped my head back.

"-Hey!" I complained.

"I'm serious. I'm excited to have achieved my first kill and all, but It's still a bit disturbing and I wasn't the one in any real danger. How are you doing?"

"Look," I held up my hands over my shoulder so he could see. "They are steady as a rock now. I was _always_ in control of the situation, and besides, legends never die."

I got lucky. The trembling stopped the moment I calmed down due to Sasuke's fingers gliding through my locks.

"Your right… but people do. Keep that in mind."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Our three captives were restrained and boarded onto the ATL with us as we prepared to take off again.

The black soot covering the floor grinded underfoot, the steam engines blaring roar drowned out everything else.

Lee was calming down a bit returning to his typical self as the rig crawled forward over the terrain back towards our destination. He approached me bringing his mouth to within a foot of my ear.

"SENSEI WAS AWESOME OUT THERE RIGHT? THINK HE'LL TEACH ME THAT TECHNIQUE OF HIS?"

"YOU WON'T KNOW UNLESS YOU ASK HIM. DON'T HURT TO TRY."

"-WHAT?"

" **TRY AND ASK HIM."** I tried again this time louder.

"-OH. YEAH I'M PLANNING ON IT!"

I nodded my head and slinked over to the back exit and out the door.

I shook my head vigorously trying to gain back some clarity while my ears were still ringing from the noise of the locomotive.

A creak alerted me to someone else exiting the cockpit behind me, but my chakra sense had returned enough that telling who it was wasn't difficult.

"Heading back to the position on the chain?" I asked.

"Mhmm…" Sasuke hummed.

Gazing up into the endless shining sky, at its cloudless beauty. Admiring the temperature and weather was a no brainer. Flight conditions were ideal.

Biting into the soft flesh of the back of my thumb between joints and drawing blood , I ran it over the tattooed contract on my arm with practiced and graceful fluidity.

 _Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey - Ram. [Summoning Jutsu]_

My palm struck the ground, black webbing extending outward from contact and a puff of smoke materializing.

"Yes master?" A voice called out from the cloud.

The cloud dissipated rapidly with a single flap of wings sending a moderate gust down. The air caught my blouse almost pulling it up before I gripped it tucking it behind the elastic waistband of my pants.

Felkar stood proudly before me, and as I made another pass over him with my eyes, I could tell he was flexing so he would look his best.

"Doing some aerial reconnaissance?" Sasuke asked.

"Yep. Just gonna go make sure there aren't any more creeps around right quick. I won't wander off too far."

"Summon me one."

"Hey there kid. Don't make commands to my-" Felrick started before I bopped him on the head.

"Quiet. Don't interrupt me and my allies. That's rude." I said before turning back to Sasuke. "It's a bit too soon for you to think you can just hop on the back of one of my eagles. You're gonna need some practice first."

"Haw-haw-haw. Hear that kid? Ow-" He finished as I knocked him upside his head again.

"-What did I just finish saying?" I said, shaking my head.

Sasuke scoffed leaping to the next trailer in a huff.

"Wait up," I said. "Just because you can't ride your own mount doesn't mean you can't participate in some aerial reconnaissance."

My lips curled into a grin seeing the cogs spin in his head.

With a firm kick off the platform, I stretched my legs apart and landed eloquently on my summons back. Patting the feathers behind me, I invited the Uchiha aboard.

The temptation was evident by how his face scrunched together in thought, but something was holding him back from outright accepting the offer.

"Hn."

"Better capitalize on opportunities when they arrive. Since you _'helped'_ me out earlier, I'm feeling generous now."

 _He hates feeling indebted, so putting it this way seems like this is a reward instead of a favor._

He paused for a few extra moments before nodding, a spark alighting within his eyes.

"Since your adamant." He said making his way back and taking his place behind me on Felrick's back.

"Eh - Watch where you're putting your feet kid."

"You'd think he was actually a cat by how much he acts like a pussy," I said.

"HEH!" Sasuke snorted.

Reaching behind me without looking, I felt around finding his arms in haste.

"Erm?"

I pulled them out and in front of me without much resistance then crossed them across my waist.

"You'd better hold onto me tight. There's no saddle and nothing to grab on except me."

My grin on my face pulled wider.

This was the first time Sasuke ever brought up flying, and the first time I'd bring him with me into the sky. My stomach was doing flips just imagining it.

 _I already loved being in the sky, and now having Sasuke along for the ride clinging to me in desperation? I bet that brings it to a whole 'nother level!_

As a precaution I bound my ankles together with calcified bone keeping me from being flung off and more importantly securing Sasuke's handhold, me.

Worst case scenario, If he got thrown off somehow, catching him shouldn't be a problem. I was an experienced rider and had experimented with the transformation jutsu enough to have that as my last resort.

I pulled on Felkar's feathers jutting out from his nape up and towards me. The takeoff command was understood and executed without delay. The flaps of his wings forced us upward but more sluggish than typical.

The added weight resistance made ascension slower, but progress was progress. We crowned over the canopy of the surrounding trees into the vast and open sky.

Up, up, and up we went. Reaching out to touch the heavens with mortal flesh. As our altitude increased, Sasuke's grip became tighter and less pliable.

"Ready?" I asked leaning forward and pulling my summons nape feathers away from me.

I didn't wait for a response because it didn't warrant one. After all, it was rhetorical.

Felkar dipped into a nosedive and we sped into rapid acceleration plummeting down to the earth. The air bent around my body, the resistance meaning to push me backwards and off the mount. Flexing my legs kept me planted stable without issue. Even experiencing this many G forces wasn't enough to knock me around.

"I pulled up and towards me sending us back up but this time in a bending crescent arc.

"FUCK! FUCK!" I heard sworn behind me.

"Hahahaha!"

We looped right back around into a dive. I pulled my two hands full of feathers taut and crossed them. Felrick's wings barely retreated from his body but it was enough to catch the wind sending us spiraling like a corkscrew.

Sasuke's fingertips dug into me through my blouse, his face pressed firm into my shoulder.

The world twisted around us

"Yo- _ooooouuuuu_ -you're a maniac!"

"YOU WANT TO SEE MANIAC? I GOTCHU!" I screamed.

I let go of the bird extending my arms into the air.

"Aaaahhhhhhhhh!" I exclaimed.

His hands desperately explored around, maybe subconsciously searching for additional leverage. One of his hands had found its way to my chest.

One of my free hands bolted out to his hand and slid it back down to my waist in the midst of the chaos.

"-NO! GRA- **AAAAAHHHHH** -STOP! GRAB IT BACK, GRAB IT BACK!"

 _MY CHEST?!_

My heart raced like Usain Bolt on cocaine. No, like a speeding bullet.

 _ **THUMP THUMP THUMP.**_

" **GRAB THE FUCKING REINS!"**

 _Ohhhh… of course that's what he meant. Duh._

Reaching back with a two handed snatch I grasped the 'reins' and steadied us out into a smooth glide.

"Your INSANE. How can this even be considered reconnaissance?!"

"Oh come on. I'm just having some fun. You didn't like that?"

"I thought I was going to die!"

I flicked my neck whipping my hair into his face.

"Pssshhht - I won't let you die silly. Even If you let go, I would definitely catch you. You're too important to me . . . Wait, I mean we're partners in crime, so I won't let you bail on me so easily. Yeah."

 _Oh my gosh. I'm so caught up in the moment that I'm blabbering._

He resituated himself scooting back up away from me trying to distance himself.

"Are we just going to brush past the part you openly admitted you aren't even scouting."

 _Why is he like this? Is physical contact with me really that bad? Is it because I'm unappealing?_

"You always have your panties in a twist over something. If you can't find a way to enjoy the moment now, what makes you think you'll ever enjoy yourself? Are you going to pretend to be some stoic badass so long you forget who you were in the first place? You don't have to put up a front for me."

"..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Another day, another generous contribution to the _'Mina's always right foundation.'_ "

A flare of pain appeared under my arm on my tricep. I craned my neck back thinking he wanted my attention.

His black glossy locks were swept back streaming like ribbons glistening in the sun. His eyes were cold and detached. He wasn't even in _this_ moment. He's lost somewhere in the future in his head.

 _I liked him better when he was shouting at me for the reckless flying. At least he was present. Why is that so rare for him?_

"The other day you said you weren't always right." He said after a long pause shifting his gaze to the side.

"Your intent on killing this for me aren't you?"

"Hn."

 _Why do I even get my hopes up in the first place. All he wants me for is something to sharpen himself on. If that's not me he'll just find someone else… The harder I try to convince him I'm special, the harder he seems to send me the message that I'm not. I know I used to treat him like a tool, but why does he always treat me like that? It's like he's always asking 'Are you worthy of me?'_

I gripped the nape feathers tighter in my grasp in frustration.

"Whose right more of the time between us? You or me?"

"..."

 _He never cracks. His guard is always up against me. Why? Does he feel betrayed by me somehow? Does he know about the puppet? About the kidnappings? … No that's impossible. He just doesn't have the time to care about me, because he's always focused on himself._

"Now I'm not telling you _'don't think for yourself_ ', but to truly contemplate about what I say. Believe it or not, your interests are basically as important to me as my interests. So, like I said before, when I tell you to chill the fuck out, it's probably really good advice."

"...Alright, _This time,_ you win."

The corners of my lips pinched up into a halfhearted smile.

 _I win huh? How long do I have to keep winning for you to look at me?_

"...Yeah? How did those words taste coming out?"

"Like ash in my mouth."

I bursted into laughter. The sincerity of his response was perfect.

"Hahahaha! For a second I thought maybe you were scared of heights, but I guess you just needed to be coaxed out of your shell, huh?"

 _Nobody is perfect. I'll keep winning for as long as I need to. I know I don't deserve him, that I don't deserve happiness. That's never stopped me from fighting against the current before. From waging war in an uphill battle so to speak. I know what I want out of life, and the only person keeping me from them is me. I can do anything… I have to. Each of my failures is a lesson, I use it as a guide to bring me closer for next time. To always get a little bit closer. To rise to the heights of the apex that kisses the cusp of perfection. The journey isn't done until you're dead, and then even after that here I am. Striving for perfection._

"Shut up and fly already." He said gripping onto me tightly again.

 _It's like his touch raises my body temperature. With him I feel warm._

"Alright, here goes something!" Slapping the 'reins' forward pulling us into another dive.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Sasuke POV)**

Felrick's talons clanged against the metal platform, our inertia carried the giant bird forward for several steps until coming to a complete stop.

"So basically you tug the feathers whatever way you want to go. That's the look of it anyways."

"Eh… I guess _simplified_ that's the just of it. That's not really how the more advanced maneuvers I've created work, but as a beginner that's a good way to think about it. Do you want to start practicing to ride?"

 _Being able for us to get to the point to both ride mounts separately will increase versatility and diversity in our available tactics. If we are going to succeed in rising to the same level as S ranked shinobi, we can't afford to take the same route as everyone else. We have to do excessive preparation to get excessive results._

People can train their entire life and never reach S rank. Mina makes a good point when she says stuff like that.

 _Once you hear it once it becomes my common sense. I can wonder how I never saw it that way before. Like I'm an idiot that will always be chasing after her back. Just goes to show that everything for her is like common sense. Like she was programmed with different instincts than everyone else._

"Mhmm, I think it would be a good idea."

"Yeah, but I could just fly you around. Doesn't that sound fun too?" She said smirking and nudging me in the gut with an elbow.

"In your dreams brat."

"Awww. Was riding with me really that bad? You seemed to be REALLY enjoying it there at the end."

 _There she goes again. There's not even anyone here. Who is she putting on a show for?_

"Must've been your imagination."

"Why are you always so mean? Do you not appreciate all the effort I put in for you?"

"What I don't appreciate is you always pretending to have the answer."

"Pretending?!"

Her shoulders slumped forward.

 _Maybe this is an opportunity to probe for information._

I decided that since Mina wasn't very forthcoming with her thoughts, that I would get to the bottom of them a little at a time. Each reaction and idea of hers would be broken down to be analyzed.

What was important isn't necessarily what she says or does, but her intentions. If I can read and understand her intentions, I'll know how to get ahead.

 _If I solve her intentions, she'll never be able to be a step ahead of me again._

"Yeah. You can't trick me like you trick everyone else. I know half the time your making it up as you're going along. Don't get me wrong, It's impressive how resourceful and creative you are, but don't preach that stuff at me like you've got it all figured out. Your younger than me, younger than pretty much anyone who could challenge you either intellectually or physically. You don't really expect me to sit there and believe your knowledge is more complete than everyone else's do you?!" I said gauging her reaction.

"Someone's age does not reflect their knowledge, and by the same token, someone's knowledge doesn't reflect their age either... in front of anyone else, I would tell them that my knowledge wouldn't be surpassed, and that I couldn't possibly lose…"

She paused, turning from side to side like she was checking to make sure there wasn't anyone else around.

"But with you I'll be honest, because you're special." She said opening up her arms as she started talking explaining it with her hands like she was trying to sell me something. "There are plenty of people that are more wise and talented than me. Plenty with a deeper knowledge of things _especially_ outside my areas of expertise, which are pretty narrow. I might stumble a few times, but I always try to think things through."

"I know you always think things through. That's one of my favorite qualities about you." I said.

"Yeah, trust me, I know... But yeah, I act with confidence even If im not because if the people around me can believe in me and not spend any of their effort into doubting what I say, I think the results are on average phenomenally better than if I were honest, upfront, and indecisive."

"What results do you want out of me? What is going on behind the scenes that I can't see? Can't we solve things by talking it out instead of you playing me some superficial tune to get me to dance to. You are not superior to me and I won't let you act like you are."

"Look at the damn pot calling the kettle black. Do you hear yourself? Are you even here right now? Do you know how hypocritical that is coming out of your mouth?" She shrieked throwing her hands up and stomping around.

"Where do you think I learned it from?" folding my arms together determined to hold my ground.

It became silent besides the chugging of the engine. I could see the black smoke turning and twisting up and away out of the chimney. The silence was long and uncomfortable. I was starting to wonder if there was even a bedrock to her thoughts.

 _Maybe they are so deep I can never fathom them._

"As long as I can remember I've had the goal to approach everything like a scholar," She started. "To understand. That's always been one of my biggest goals. I have a need to gain control. If I don't feel in control, I'm anxious. If I'm not in control, then I'm at everyone else's mercy. While I have control, I still have a say, I still have a chance to do something. I can still change the outcome of things. That's why If I don't understand something, I work tirelessly until I get closer to understanding. At least to understand the situation better than those around me so I can be a leader, so I can bend whatever situation to my favor... and I want to bend whatever situation to your favor too."

"Why? Just because we're friends? Because then I'll owe you favors myself and you can win in the end? Don't misunderstand, I understand that you work hard, but now you're going to try to say all that false confidence was for MY benefit? Everything you've done for me also benefited you. It pisses me off that you pretend everything you do is actually for me. Do you think that shit you do on everyone else really works on me?" I said.

My mouth clenched together harder.

 _She is so infuriating!_

"I-I… Okay at the start, sure, I was really just looking out for myself and only me. I'm not going to lie. But that's not at all how it is anymore. You make me want to be even better. But 'better' is never good enough. I always fall short of my expectations. Again and again. It feels like I'm running on a treadmill and going nowhere!"

"What is a... treadmill?"

Her eyes flicked all the way open trying to jump out of her head or something. She dropped to her knees, her hands clenching long bunches of strands of her hair as she pulled them.

If she pulls like that, she might actually rip her hair out. Is she REALLY _THAT MAD_?"

"-Like someone's holding my head underwater and all I want to do is breath. I hate it. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!" She gasped.

She coughed but quickly went back to her rant.

"... No - I hate myself. I know how inadequate I am without you always second guessing me! That I'm a fraud and you're always looking for me to slip up. I try, and I try, and I try, and I try. I don't know what you want from me! I thought you wanted me to make you stronger, but despite all the results I got for you, you're never content with it. I thought you wanted someone you could be real with, that you could confide in me when necessary, but you abandoned that a long time ago. I even thought maybe that you'd take a hint and console me when I'M SUFFERING. I've almost died. I don't know how many times I lucked out and escaped death by a hair's width. I've lived through misery you can't imagine - okay? I can't even get out of live combat anymore without my fucking hands shaking. I'm pathetic. Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now that I told you the truth?! Was it that important for me to admit I don't have it all figured out? That no matter how hard I try I'll never have the best method, or the fastest method, or even the most consistent method. That I don't have all the answers? ... I don't see anyone else trying as hard as I do, I'm so tired of trying. Sometimes I wonder why I keep going. What really propels me forward. I don't know anymore. It doesn't matter that I don't know though. I keep on trying anyways. doesn't that count for something? Does it even matter to you? IDIOT!"

Tears streamed out the corners of her eyes and down her rosy cheeks. There was without a doubt no filter between what she was feeling and what she was saying. This is what I thought I wanted. This is exactly what I was searching for. But I never expected her to give it to me.

I was blindsided. I didn't see _that_ coming AT ALL.

I can't explain it. Staring into her eyes, I can tell there's still so much I don't know about her. After all the time we've spent together, my understanding of her is still desperately incomplete.

By comparison, her understanding of me is leagues ahead of mine for her.

I wished she could just share, but every time I tried bluntly asking for that kind of stuff she would find a way to avoid it.

 _It 'was' always an unnecessarily complicated challenge to have to figure out. She 'was' such a pain in that way._

As time went on, the task of figuring her out became more and more enjoyable. If I asked myself and I was being genuine, I could call it an addiction.

Whenever I find myself idle, she finds a way to sneak into my head uninvited. She's a puzzle made specifically not to be solved. Because of the intelligence and intention behind her, of course it would be impossible to complete such a puzzle in a sitting or even a few sittings. I'd come back and try to figure out what pieces go where. Id make predictions. I'd hit walls. I'd have small breakthroughs, only enough to get a sense of where the next piece could go.

 _What was I expecting when I pressed about her superficial arrogance? In all honesty I expected firm resistance. I expected to have to pressure and keep pressuring her to get anything to get to the bedrock of her thoughts. She guards that kind of information fiercely. Have I ever seen her give it out for free?_

 _I doubt it… Everything with her was like an exchange, she would give, but she would find a way she could take at the same time. She would find a way to make sure she came out ahead in the exchange like a savvy cut-throat merchant. So where did this come from?_

Her fracturing like this and telling me everything that was on her mind, It was not within my calculations. I would go as far to say it was unforeseeable.

 _It didn't make sense._

A memory resurfaced from my mind. When she informed me that Danzo was the true orchestrator of my family's massacre. When everything that I knew was put into question. How lost I was. During that time, she acted as a foundation to latch myself onto. I was grateful, but whenever I thought back to it I was ashamed of my actions. I was embarrassed having needed her consolation. I told myself that I wouldn't need it again.

 _Is… that what brought us here? I stopped relying on her and she began questioning her competency? Did I make her question her value to me?_

She always grounded me and I acted thankless.

 _I figured she'd understand, but how could she if I never spent any effort to show her? Never spent any effort to tell her._

I'm a conceited bastard to overlook that perhaps she would want the same thing she offered me. That all along what she wanted was for me to support her the way she supported me.

 _Why couldn't I just show her I appreciated it a little? It's not like It would have killed you Sasuke!_

She had me consumed in my head. Conflicted. I didn't know what I was going to say, and I was flooded with emotions from my shattered expectations.

I always saw her as that extra step ahead of me. As a rival to help serve my goals. As someone I had to prove my worth to because of my own feelings of inadequacy.

 _How could I have overlooked that she could have felt the same way all this time? My selfish exploitation of her must be the root cause of all this._

It's so obvious now that I look back. I can benefit from hindsight now if I consider that her pushiness was a way of crying for help in the most dignified manor she could.

 _How else can a prideful girl like her ask for help. She never could be straight with me with those intentions until I finally broke away her last piece of pride._

 _I guess she clung to the idea that she had it all together and had the answers because that's all she had left. I was emotionally detached and that was her final place of refuge. When that crumbled, she was finally left exposed with nowhere to retreat to._

 _I'm an idiot. I thought that admitting my necessity of her would be equivalent to becoming one of those creeps who obsess over the opposite gender like in all the stories. That she was trying to assert herself over me like a master breaking a hound. I've had it wrong all along. She did all that because she thought that's what I wanted? It's all starting to make sense. The countless holes I could never fill was because the pieces around it I thought fit never did. My ill conceived assumptions are what brought us here. The last thing I wanted was to actually hurt her._

I didn't truly believe I could hurt her. I had placed her subconsciously on a pedestal and forced her to live up to my idea of her. That's so messed up. I have to try to fix this. I have to try to tell her how I feel.

I dropped to my knees wrapping her up in my arms. I tried my best to remember back to when she consoled me. Maybe she gave me exactly what she wanted at the time. If that's what she wanted, I can give it back to her. I can imitate how she consoled me.

Retrieving the memory wasn't difficult, but the specifics were a little fuzzy.

It felt like ages ago.

In her sobbing mess she tried to push me off. Her attempts were weak and halfhearted. I doubled down wrapping her up tighter.

"I'm so sorry Mina."

I cradled her neck, stroking my hand down her back. I could feel the tears seeping into the fabric of my shirt. My chest was getting moist and my shirt was sticking to it as she drove her face into me choking for air in between hardy sobs.

"You are absolutely right, I'm an idiot. I've been selfish, completely absorbed in myself. I obviously knew you weren't perfect, but in my head you were this untouchable, unhurtable, self reliant badass. I was jealous of you because of how put together you seemed."

"And now you know I'm not. That I'm like everyone else. That I'm trash with barely passable talent. I'm pathetic. Do you hate me now? Well I guarantee you don't hate me as much as I hate myself - So HAHAHaa-gha!"

Her last laugh petered out into sobs again. She slumped over wailing into my neck lightly hitting me with her fists.

"No, I don't hate you. You're amazing. I hate myself for being so naive that I missed so many crucial things. I hate that I couldn't read your intentions until it came to this. That I never told you how important you are to me, or how thankful I am that you're there for me like all the time. That all along I thought you were trying to mess with me. That you were trying to manipulate me into your dog or something. I completely misunderstood. I'm a horrible friend that abandoned you in your time of need when you were always there for me." I said.

"You're… You're just saying that. You don't even know who I am. I've done things that are irredeemable. If you really knew how twisted I was, you'd leave me like everyone else. Why wouldn't you? I think just because I have a little brains and some fighting talent that makes it okay to treat people like my pawns. I tried to treat you like a pawn, and when I realized that I didn't want you as a pawn anymore. That I wanted you for real. That-that you and what you thought were more important to me than anything else, when I decided that it was too late. You kept me away and treated me like a monster, after that I knew I totally deserved it. I know how to use people, but I apparently don't know how to love. It figures that you'd be just as clueless and self absorbed as me. I don't deserve any better."

"I don't like it when you talk bad about yourself. At one point, I probably would have loved it. I guess that's why people tell you to be careful what you wish for. Because now that you're really doing it, it hurts. There's a lot of good things about you. My mother told me one time that all of us have both a shadow and a light inside us. I knew you had a shadow, but you always shined so bright that it was easy to forget about. I like how you think, how pragmatic and systematic your thoughts are. How you always tried to make sure you came out on top in the end. I wanted to be like that too. In a sense, I modeled myself off what I thought were your very best traits. That's what made it so hard and confusing when I realized that you treated me differently. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why. Was it because I was more valuable in your eyes because of my strength? Because I was a little quicker to pick up on things than the other people around us? It always bugged me, but I was too blind to figure out the truth when it was right in front of my face," I said.

Spending no time at all, I lead into the rest of what I needed to say.

"I'm not going to take you for granted anymore. I'm going to build you up instead of trying to tear you down from now on, I promise. Nobody is more important to me than you are, and I know I fucked up… alot… like really bad. Telling you how sorry I am, and I am very sorry by the way, would never be enough to atone for my mistakes. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. It always bothered me how you called me loser, but now that I have a better grasp on what you meant by that and what you want and need as a whole, I can't think of a more accurate name. I'll always be your loser."

She pulled her face out of my chest, her eyes barely open, Her lips were trembling. I could see how much effort it was taking to compose herself even that much.

My chest seared. A gut wrenching pain like my heart was being strangled. My lungs couldn't pull in any air. Asphyxiation was in my future if I stayed like this much longer. My inner turmoil was wreaking havoc so even my body was dysfunctional.

"You mean it? If I have to do or have done things that other people see as evil, you can still believe in me? Even if the whole world turns against me, I can count on you to be at my side?"

 _I've never been more sure of anything in my life._

"Of Course. Like I said, I'm your loser, and you'll be my brat as long as you can stand me."

The sun broke through the storm. Her eyes pinched together, her mouth pulled into a smile.

 _ **Thump Thump Thump.**_

She chuckled. Her laugh was a glorious melody lifting my spirit from the depths of despair.

"Oh yeah? I bet I could stand you _waaaaay_ longer than you could stand me… Um, this is kind of random, but I want to get it off my chest while I'm thinking about it..."

"What is it. I'm here to listen."

 _Anything. I'll listen to anything she has to say and I won't complain._

"Remember that time where I fell asleep with you in your compound?"

"I thought we both agreed that never happened?" I said before thinking.

"Okay... but ever since THAT ONE TIME THAT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED, I've been thinking... I liked it and want to do it again."

"You want to…" I started before derping out, my cheeks getting hot and I started stuttering. "Yo-Y-You-"

 _She's really not holding anything back. It's like a damn ruptured and there was no going back. Her emotions she held close to herself, her desires, her insecurities. Everything was open to me._

"If we're being open and honest right now, I like you. I don't care what anyone else thinks, curling up with you makes me happy… and warm. And as masochistic as I think I probably am, I really like being warm and happy…"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **A/N:**_ _I've found myself back in the gym with renewed determination. Kobe's death hit me hard, he was more of a role model to me than my own father. I followed both his career and his life because it always seemed to me that he had something figured out the rest of us were missing. He wasn't perfect, and he made his fair share of mistakes, but from each of them he gained wisdom and made it his mission to gift that wisdom to the rest of the world through his games, inspirational talks, public appearances, and he even fucked around 'n won an emmy with his animated short_ _'Dear Basketball'_ _. If any of you are feeling lost, without a path to take you to your goals, or find yourself without any true goals, I highly recommend you to look up: "Kobe Bryant inspirational speech" on YouTube and watch some of the search results._

 _ **Long live the Black Mamba.**_

 _Well, I guess that's enough of praising Kobe for the time being, When I asked last chapter what your opinions on the romantic B plot between Sasuke and Mina were, an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY admitted that you guys liked it. It's hard to let my readers down when I know what you want, so I'm here to provide. Next Chapter will be mostly A plot material furthering the current Mission (Arc). Let me know how I did this chapter, and how authentic these character interactions felt with the knowledge that each character has been shaped differently thanks to the changes in narrative in this Naruto-verse. Thank you readers, without you I wouldn't have a platform to be heard._

 **Reviewer Question: - Who do you look up to for inspiration? Who convinces you that you want to live your life to be a better version of yourself, or the best version of yourself, and why?**

…


	39. Chapter 35 - (Volume 2)

**Article 39 - Chapter 35 - The Price of Arrogance**

 **-Volume 2: Subarticle 4-**

* * *

 _ **Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.**_

 **-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-**

* * *

 _A/N: 11k+ words for you all and a relatively fast update. If you want quicker updates keep me motivated with your feedback please!_

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

* * *

 _ **(Last Chapter: Excerpt)**_

 **(Sasuke POV)**

She chuckled. Her laugh was a glorious melody lifting my spirit from the depths of despair.

"Oh yeah? I bet I could stand you _waaaaay_ longer than you could stand me… Um, this is kind of random, but I want to get it off my chest while I'm thinking about it..."

"What is it. I'm here to listen."

 _Anything. I'll listen to anything she has to say and I won't complain._

"Remember that time where I fell asleep with you in your compound?"

"I thought we both agreed that never happened?" I said before thinking.

"Okay... but ever since THAT ONE TIME THAT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED, I've been thinking... I liked it and want to do it again."

"You want to…" I started before derping out, my cheeks getting hot and I started stuttering. "Yo-Y-You-"

 _She's really not holding anything back. It's like a damn ruptured and there was no going back. Her emotions she held close to herself, her desires, her insecurities. Everything was open to me._

"If we're being open and honest right now, I like you. I don't care what anyone else thinks, curling up with you makes me happy… and warm. And as masochistic as I think I probably am, I really like being warm and happy…"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 35 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

The sun was dipping below the horizon leaving the sky a beautiful chromatic tangerine. The last of the evening sunlight approached and after having been ambushed we planned on setting up camp earlier today.

Timbers were being stacked in a pit by Reiner and another logistics crew-member while Ishiji lined the edge of the pit with rocks to prevent fire leakage.

Gai-sensei waved us over before turning around and walking off. With some quick long strides I made my way to Lee's side.

"So did you ever ask him?"

"Hm? OHHHH Gai-sensei!" Lee said, perking up and flashing a brilliant smile. "Yeah! He's going to take me as his disciple. Isn't that awesome?"

 _I guess my question wasn't specific enough._

"So does that mean he's going to train you in that secret technique?" I asked.

"Yeaaah! I mean I AM his disciple now. I won't be able to just use it whenever I want though. He said it's only for times when my life or my ninja way are in jeopardy." Lee announced before doing his best Maito Gai impression. " _With great power comes great responsibility._ "

I slapped his back while flashing a cheesy grin of my own.

It put my heart at ease knowing Gai would train Lee still, but I would need to make my play for the 8 inner gates technique too.

 _If that means also becoming Gai-sensei's disciple, then so be it._

After another 50 meters, sensei stopped. We gathered around for our long anticipated squad meeting.

"The appearance of enemy Shinobi to intercept our expedition changes the difficulty of our mission. If we were hired by the Land of Waves merchant we could turn around, but because the logging company hired us instead we have much less leeway to warrant turning back. I'm reclassifying this mission to B rank. Before we continue, does anyone have any problems with continuing the mission?"

Lee's hand flew to his forehead in a salute. "No Sensei!"

Sasuke's reply wasn't far behind. "The mission must go on."

"I agree. We finish what we started! We can rest at the end, not in the middle," I said.

Gai nodded his head several times after hearing our opinions. The telltale signs of his overwhelming pride for us was icing on the cake.

"Excellent. With only three days left of travel, we should be able to complete our mission successfully. That being said, something doesn't feel right about this. I've decided that we will not release our captives to the custody of wave country or Gato Industries. I'm sending Konoha a mission report detailing the situation and asking for reinforcements. After our formal mission is complete, we will secretly stay behind to investigate the captive's claims. We'll lay low and prioritize intelligence first until the reinforcements arrive. Any questions?"

I spoke up before giving anyone else the chance.

"What information did you extract from the captives to come to this decision?"

Gai-sensei's brows curled up in curiosity.

"Wonderful question." He said before craning his head around. He bent over picking up a branch off the ground then dropped to a knee. He used the branch like a pencil etching out squares, rectangles, and other shapes into the soft dirt. "Okay, so lets say this mark here is the company we're assigned to escort the lumber to. Apparently this company is suffocating all trade in the land of waves territory so that it goes through them instead."

He moved the stick pointing to a triangle continuing with: "Bands of bandits are reported to patrol the sea and attack merchant ships except for the ones flying Gato industries flags. Sabotage is being claimed. Apparently several docked ships have been sunk in the bay. To top it all off, the captives have also said that Gato Industries have undercut the rest of the local shipping companies by lowering their prices for transportation to dirt cheap so that everyone else can't afford to compete. If all of this is true, they are preparing for something. Worst case scenario, I'm afraid we could be looking at the prelude to a revolution or coup d'état."

Lee's smile shifted to a straight face, and then bent into a frown as Gai-sensei wrapped up his summary.

"So they are playing dirty? We can't let them get away with it!"

Gai took a step forward patting Lee's head. "This is all unconfirmed information. It's on us to figure out the truth from fable. I like the fire in your eyes' but you have to remember that working off false intelligence can be disastrous and dangerous."

With the branch, Gai swept the ground distorting the image he was using to explain the situation to us.

"Hn." Sasuke hummed staring off into the distance.

"Mina, could we use one of your summons to deliver the mission report?" Gai finished tossing the branch to the side.

"Ofcourse."

The summoning jutsu was so commonplace to me at this point I could execute it in my sleep. Dragging blood across the contract and executing the hand signs took zero time. The black webbing expanded out, a puff of smoke manifesting simultaneously.

A young snow white eagle stepped out of the cloud.

"Iz-Mina-Sama." The bird struggled before settling on the right name.

I pointed to Gai-sensei holding out a scroll and the bird picked up on my intention. Gai approached while I comforted the bird by running my palm accross its head several times.

Sensei tied the scroll to the leg of the eagle while I gave him these following instructions.

"Remember that message outpost I showed you back in my village? Report there and deliver this scroll to any of the on duty ninja. The village should be directly north, give or take 5 degrees for a margin of error. This mission is high priority and must be completed _as soon as possible_. Can you do this?"

"Absolutely. Your wish is my command," The bird replied.

Gai finished, and with that I sent the bird on its way taking to the sky zooming away from us in haste.

"Alright then. That should be everything. You can all return to camp."

My peers set off on their return back but I saw my opportunity to get some private one on one time with Gai-sensei.

I tapped his shoulder getting his attention before asking in a hushed tone. "Psssht. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"You're in need of your ol' Sensei's guidance are you? Heh-heh. Of course, of course. What do you need Mina-kun?"

"I have a goal that I absolutely need to accomplish before I die. That goal is going to require me to shape myself into the strongest shinobi I can be. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you, I'm definitely in a rush, and it might be…" I held up a hand pinching my thumb and index finger together before pulling them apart a hair. "It might be a little on the reckless side."

"You want my advice on how to achieve your goals?"

"Um… Not really. You see, I'm torn between what I have to do, and what I might leave behind in the pursuit of my dream. I can never imagine turning back, giving up on it isn't possible, I couldn't live with myself if I did… but I also dislike the thought of what I am becoming following that road."

Sensei's face became stern. I noticed his lips pressing together tight, his eyes drifting off into the distance likely in thought. He stayed like that for a few seconds before snapping back to attention.

"Sounds like you are caught between a rock and a hard place. To me it feels like you already have made up your mind but are seeking approval. You don't need my approval or anyone else's, because you already know the answer in here."He said poking his finger into my chest. "If you give up on your dream, you will suffer more."

He didn't tell me anything I didn't know, but hearing him say it helped quell the turbulence in my heart.

"You're right."

"I am your wise and stunningly handsome Sensei after all," He said flashing a cheesy smile with a thumbs up to accompany it. "So was that everything?"

"No… I want to become your disciple as well. I need you to impart your wisdom and teach me that secret technique you used on those Land of Rivers nin."

"First Lee and now you. That technique isn't some magic fix-all anyone can incorporate into their arsonal. It is a self sacrificial jutsu that's cost of use is the destruction of one's body. I can't in good conscious impart such a dangerous jutsu to you."

 _Are you kidding? You're going to teach it to Lee but not me? Such blatant favoritism!? Really?_

"I know the risk of the inner gates and am fully willing to accept the responsibility that learning it will bring. Also, because of my kekkei genkai the Shikotsumyaku, the risk factor of bodily harm or incapacitation after its use should be diminished a substantial amount. I can't think of a more perfect jutsu to mesh with the tools I already have at my disposal."

Sensei's brows both shot up past his bangs. "You already know about the 8 inner gates?"

"You thought I wouldn't do my due diligence? That I wouldn't research my excellent and manly Sensei after being taken under your wing?"

"Hahahaha! You're a little sweet talker aren't you? Well then, I'll make you a deal. You can become my disciple right now and study under me, but for the time being I will not teach you the inner gates technique. You aren't ready for it _yet_."

"What? Why don't you think I'm ready?" I asked.

"You see, where most new shinobi lack a killing instinct, you instead lack empathy."

"I do not! I deeply empathize with my friends and teammates. That includes you too Gai-sensei."

"I'm glad to hear it, but I already knew that much. The problem is you can't or won't empathize with those you don't have a bond to. I've seen first hand where this leads to. In fact one of my closest friends who doubles as my eternal rival has walked down that path. Now his heart is heavy and full of regret. I can't bear to see you follow in his footsteps."

"You're talking about Kakashi aren't you? You don't have to worry, I'll **NEVER** end up like him."

"Well that's a surprise. You sure are quick and sharp witted aren't you? … Yes, I was talking about Kakashi, but as smart as you are, you've still got a long way to go before you can make statements like that."

Gai paused for a while, his intense gaze searching for something in my eyes making me wonder if he could see my soul.

Gai dragged his finger across his upper lip. "What if a mission turns out to be against the ideals of the leaf or humanity as a whole? How will you come to the decision to forsake the mission or your beliefs? It seems to me like you are the type to forsake anything for the mission, and for your goals."

"..."

"What if we take on joint missions with teams who don't have members you value? Will you be able to treat them with empathy? You will be challenged again and again in the future where you will have to come to a decision. When you arrive there, all I ask is to remember to think it through and walk the path of less regret."

I stood a bit awed by the insight of my sensei. I could hardly believe this was the same goofball I had come to know. It made me wonder if he hid his critical thinking skills beneath his dullard persona so that he would be underestimated.

 _No… can't be right? Gai-sensei of all people?_

"So all I need to do is figure out how to empathize with people I don't care about and you'll teach me how to use the inner gates?" I asked.

"Empathy isn't so cut and dry. Most people learn it little by little. You are still very young and I can tell that you believe a lack of empathy is your strength. When I first became a ninja, I actually had the opposite problem. I felt too much slowing me down and making it hard to come to a decision. I understand that out of these two extremes, an absence of empathy is a no brainer. But things aren't always black and white. Everything is more like various shades of grey. Cutting out your empathy and pretending to have none is also a weakness."

Sensei looked conflicted running a hand through his hair then continued with: "You must find a balance you can maintain if you hope to have a fulfilling life. As a ninja you will be expected to kill. This is an inescapable truth. You'll be expected to sacrifice for missions. Most people won't tell you this, but you will always have a choice. Try to put yourself in whoever's shoes even if they are your enemy. Understand them. Then if you still end up taking their life, you can still pay them respect. People like us who take other's lives... It's our responsibility to carry that weight with us. True warriors don't forget and move on, they shoulder those peoples burdens and dreams with them. The memories carry you on, reshape you, and strengthen your resolve, because it's about more than yourself, it's about everyone who brought you this far."

A lightheadedness swept over me. Deep internal conflict left me confused. I had already chosen to leave behind everything that didn't matter to me on my path.

 _To gain something, something else must be lost. Whether it was time, opportunities, allies, family, or whatever, I was determined to trek forward to eliminate my enemies. The decisions weren't always easy, but they were always simple._

 _I knew what I needed to do to continue on my journey, but now? I could sacrifice learning the 8 Inner gates technique to preserve my straight-forward path to destroy Being-X and Orochimaru… Or I'd need to risk backtracking and overwriting progress I've already made to be able to empathize with strangers so that Gai will teach me the inner gates._

My two available options both seemed suboptimal. On my journey to gain power, I needed to leave something behind to gain it. But now I need to gain something tedious and unnecessary in order to get the power I seek.

 _So goddamn ironic! The whole situation felt less like reality and more like a verse in an Alanis Morissette song. I hadn't imagined that my ability to compartmentalize and let go of any restraint on opponents would actually work against me. FUCK!_

As much as I didn't like it, there was one more option available to me. Not an Idea I was proud of, but an option nonetheless. To bypass the need to learn empathy entirely and just fake it.

 _I've faked so many things at this point would it really matter to add another to the list?_

It made sense. I could put on another mask in front of Gai-sensei to convince him, but if that mask ever slipped I'd be fucked. He'd probably realize and any credibility I'd gained so far would crumble.

For the first time in a long while, I was stuck. I didn't have any idea what I was going to do.

The green jumpsuit wearing, bushy browed, moronic smile flashing ninja stood before me. I found myself jealous of how carefree he could live through his lifestyle. How earnest he could be. I wondered briefly if I did follow his teachings, If I did look within me and managed to somehow find the empathy I buried within me like a mangled corpse planning to never let it see the light of day again... could I even revive it?

 _If I could… Is that even what I want?_

"I can see that this is troubling you. I was planning on introducing the idea to you in bits so it would feel more natural but with how this conversation played out, I made a choice. Look deep into my eyes and accept my sincere apology! Also notice my handsome manly features." He said as a humongous shit-eating grin spread across his face.

The last traces of sunlight reflected off his perfect white teeth like polished gemstones.

"You are such a goof Sensei." I said, cracking an earnest smile. "But you're a charming goof."

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I hung out with my team and the merry band of the logistics crew around the campfire. Laughter, booze, gossip, and life experiences were shared by the guys we were hired to escort. Being able to cut up alongside them was an experience I was certain I'd remember. I doubted so many missions would both be this successful and fun at the same time.

Several of us including myself roasted preserved beef and potatoes on makeshift wood shish kabobs. Our night winded down faster than I would have liked, but I found myself let out a long yawn, and then yawned again.

" _Yaaaaaarrah_." I finished smacking my lips and exploring my teeth with my tongue looking for meat that might have gotten stranded.

 _I must be pretty tired after all._

The scouting shift was delegated to Gai and Lee first per usual, meaning Sasuke's and mine followed after.

Switching up the shifts wasn't ideal because then we wouldn't be awake and resting in the same intervals. One team would stay up far longer with the same amount of rest.

I zipped up the tent behind me after stepping in, the dim lanterns light flickered sending twisting shadows throughout the space.

Dropping to my knees, I opened my travelers pack retrieving a rag and a bottle of water. Twisting the cap off and turning the bottle upside down while holding the rag to the mouth of the bottle, the rag grew damp.

I gave myself a quick cursory wipedown then pulled out a blue vial from my bag's front pocket. I squirted the pungent liquid down my blouse then on an arm and spread it around with my hands.

I smoothed out my black tights trying to get any wrinkles and creases out of them, tugging at the fabric near my ankles to finish it off.

I slipped the vial back into it's appropriate pocket

Yanking off my headband and setting it aside, I was ready to hit the hay. I crawled to my sleeping bag on my knees with a sigh of exasperation.

 _Today was one hell of a day._

I kicked off my sandals into the corner next to my pack. They rebounded off the wall of the tent landing on target without an issue and I lightly massaged the bottom of my feet.

 _Why do almost all ninjas wear sandals? And what's up with like nobody wearing socks. Most retailers don't even carry them. They are like underwear for your feet and damned comfortable to boot._

I was both mentally and physically drained. I couldn't wait to dive into my sleeping bag to get some much needed rest and recuperation.

Peeling back the top layer of the bedroll, I jammed my legs inside and scooted in.

Reaching for my pillow, I noticed the Uchiha staring at me sitting atop his own sleeping bag.

His face was steadily transitioning from his standard pale shade to more and more pink.

"Erm… If you want… You could probably fit in my bag." He finished his eyes' darting down to the floor unable to hold my gaze.

"...What?" I let slip out in a moment of pure unadulterated bewilderment.

"Nevermind." He said turning around.

 _Did he just? Uhh… Wouldn't it look bad for us as teammates to be caught snuggling up on a mission? But then again, If I leave it at this maybe Sasuke will think I don't want to be seen with him. Urgh what the fuck is happening today?!_

"When I said I wanted to sleep with you, I was thinking in your compound. I mean, I wouldn't care in the slightest if we were caught or what anyone else thinks about us besides you, but that's exactly why I have to ask, ARE YOU SURE? Someone will probably see me with you," I said.

He swung his neck around peering over his shoulder. " _And?_ If you don't care, neither do I."

Blood throbbed in my temples. I found myself in disbelief of the current situation I was presented with. My body was burning up while I imagined accepting his offer. No imagining wouldn't be the word I'd use, in truth I was fantasizing.

My heart slammed against my ribcage making it hard to breathe.

I could feel my hot pulse shooting through my wrists in an ever increasing tempo.

Sitting upright in my bedroll, I twisted around hiding my face for a moment trying to gain back as much of my composure as I could.

I clapped both of my hands into my cheeks, the stinging tingling sensation waking me from my trepidation.

 _Okay… okay calmly think this through for a second. We were taught shinobi laws and restrictions in the academy. There were no rules forbidding fraternization from team members so long as neither are a superior officer. As long as both of us stay the same rank legally we'll be fine even if we're caught. Besides, I can't think of a more laid back and accepting sensei about this type of stuff._

I made up my mind.

 _I'm fearless aren't I?_

I crawled out of the sleeping bag, kicking the fabric off my feet finally breaking free.

His eyes watching me make my way over peaked some of my slumbering shame, but I was already committed.

 _I had never turned back before, and I won't let this be my first time._

The round glittering dual onyx pupils fixed on me set my rebellious body ablaze.

The room started slowly shifting and I was feeling feverish.

 _ **Thump, Thump, Thump.**_

 _The mind is a powerful thing. I think I'm psyching myself out here. Control yourself stupid! Just think of him like a brother or something. It's just some harmless cuddling. Get over yourself!_

Closing my eyes, I let out a deep breath emptying my lungs slow and steady. After a moment of breathlessness, I inhaled greedily sucking in all the air I could. I didn't care how I looked, I was busy casting away my doubts and worries.

With nothing left to hold me back, I darted the rest of the way over and sat in his peeled open sleeping bag. We both slipped inside pulling the flap over us, scooting closer to each other.

I couldn't help noticing my panties were getting steamy.

 _Holy shit Mina. You are a degenerate. Think clean thoughts. Pretend he's a family member and everything is pure._

The spot I was laying was preheated from where he had been sitting.

My nose twitched. A whiff of body odor sailed into my nostrils.

"Ooooff. Don't you pack any deodorant or cologne? It's kind of common courtesy to people who are going to be around you."

"I normally bathe once or twice a day, but since we're on an away mission—"

"—Since you're away on a mission you can't bathe often? Yeah, duh. That would be the point of deodorant and cologne. It's something rather than nothing."

"..."

"One second," I said retreating out of the bedroll over to my belongings once again. I returned with the same blue vial, a finger on the sprayer.

"Wha—" He started as I hit him with a mist of perfume. He let out a cough as I made my way back to my stuff putting up the vial. I then came back and crawled into his sleeping bag again.

Fortunately that whole fiasco broke a lot of tension for me and murdered my libedo.

 _I'm a genius!_

I stuck my nose into his chest unabashed by my actions. "Mmmm, much better."

"Tch." He clicked.

I giggled and shut my eyes. The soothing warmth seeping into me from him was amazing.

 _I swear I'm cold blooded. 9/10 times I would prefer to be a bit warmer. I'm never at my ideal temperature until I get to the point I'm sweating._

Him and I laid there awkwardly for a minute or two getting comfortable with each others' presence without saying anything. I decided to break the ice, snaking one of my arms across his body and resting my hand on the contour of his bending spine.

As if he was accepting an invitation, he also wrapped an arm around me pulling me closer. His hot breath was hitting my forehead blowing strands of my hair. Their movement was miniscule, but the action was melting away any of the awkwardness I had been feeling.

"As much as I might want to, I don't think I can be an open book for you. It's too far removed from my nature." I whispered.

I felt him shift, his breath on my ear.

"I get it. I'm the same way."

Tilting my chin up, our eyes met. We held each other's gaze with neither of us having the heart to look away.

"—And there's no way I can turn my inner competitor off. I don't mind opening up when we have to talk about stuff, but that won't stop me from playing with you. That same way we have always tried one upping each other, I don't want to lose that. It'll get boring if we don't keep eachother on our toes, and besides, competition is no fun without a little mystery."

"Don't worry, I rarely tire of your games. That being said though, I really enjoyed you opening up today. Hearing what you thought without a filter was a breath of fresh air." He finished and poked my forehead with two of his fingers.

Recognizing the gesture, I was happy on multiple fronts. One that he recognizes that as an intimate action again meaning he's looked past what his brother did, and that he was willing to share that intimate act with me.

"Good, cuz for the most part, especially when we're alone, I won't water down my thoughts anymore. I want you to critique me honestly and not hold anything back. I'll give my raw unfiltered opinions too so we can make better more informed decisions about things. Well… at least I'll try my hardest to do that. Ya'know, old habits die hard."

"Mhmm. I didn't realize for a long time, but we're a team. All along I was only ever focused on my progress. My interest in yours extended far enough to compare myself to you and make judgments. That's going to change. What are your plans to get stronger? I'll help you anyway I can."

His shift ever since my little meltdown was more than I could have imagined. I was half questioning if this was the same person.

 _I guess he's like an onion, there's a bunch of layers to him and most of the time I could only see the outer ones… Well, that and his raw smell without washing could probably make me tear up. Ha!_

"My taijutsu is in my opinion almost at a master level. I want to 'max it out' so I can branch out and get more versatility. I'd really like to be able to use puppetry in the field, but you've already shown me how difficult it is to be relevant in combat with the dummy puppets I tried out. I think that the 8 Inner gates, that technique Gai-sensei did today, I think that can push me to a comfortable level so that I can really start branching out. I will certainly be able to face Jonin level threats if I can master enough of it. I asked him to teach me today, but he said I wasn't ready yet, so I guess I'm gonna have to wait on that for a little bit. I also desperately need to master the lightning nature chakra transformation. I have a plan to eventually learn the Raikage's jutsu. I found a scroll breaking down it's basics in my clan."

"Lightning type jutsu's and the whole nature transformation in general feel the easiest for me to learn. I bet I could help you, especially with my sharingan if I can see it even once."

"Yeah I— Wait what? Isn't your chakra affinity fire?"

 _Aren't all Uchihas' innate affinity fire? Well… at least purebloods?_

"... I don't think so. I'm not sure. I've never checked."

 _His affinity might actually be lightning? That makes so much sense! That's probably why he struggled so much to learn the fireball jutsu when he was a kid, and why he was able to make so many variations of the chidori in canon. I don't know if the series ever directly stated it, but it would make a lot of sense!_

"When we get done with the mission, we need to get your chakra affinity tested. If it's actually lightning, then I've got a plan that will make you a MONSTER."

"Really?! What do you have in mind?"

The corner of my lips were pinching super tight. I must have been grinning ear to ear.

 _If we can both work on [Lightning Release Chakra Mode] it's combat application could be ready way sooner than I expected!_

"Either way, whatever affinity you are, we need to get Kakashi to teach you. I was spying on Kakashi one time and saw him use this lightning Jutsu. It sounded like birds were chirping and it's attack power was superb. I'll ask Gai-sensei about it later and get more details. When we get back from the mission, you need to beg Kakashi to train you. Forget your pride, this Jutsu is a must for you! You see, this jutsu is monstrous, and I have a suspicion that you can create different sub-jutsu's from the idea of the original. But what will make it REALLY unstoppable is another jutsu in conjunction. If your affinity is lightning, the Raikage's jutsu I was talking about, [Lightning Release Chakra Mode], could make you the ultimate Nintaijutsu specialist."

"You think two jutsu could raise my power by that much?!"

"Definitely. I have no doubts that complete mastery of both of these jutsu, and if paired with your sharingan…" I was getting ahead of myself thinking about how strong he would be. He could certainly defeat certain S ranked shinobi without a doubt in my mind. "... You'd be S rank. You could probably even spank Danzo like a little bitch."

Sasuke blinked, his mouth fell open staying suspended like that for an entire minute.

"How would you know how strong Danzo is?"

"...I still have a few secrets about me I can't tell you quite yet. Wait patiently and the time will come when I can come clean."

"...Okay."

I drilled my hand beneath his arm trying to get underneath him without being disruptive, but I wasn't having any luck. "Lean up for a second…"

A path for my hand and arm appeared now allowing me to get both of my arms around him. I checked on him wearing a super joyful smile before realizing that how he was positioned probably wasn't that comfortable.

Reaching over with the arm not trapped beneath him, I grabbed his free arm, lifted my head up straining my neck, and placed it under my head. His bicep was soft enough to still be comfortable to lay on, I'd guess because his arm was lax and not flexed.

"Better?" I asked.

"Mhmm."

"Good."

I leaned my face against his chest again, stroking my fingertips up and down his back as gently as I could.

"I really appreciate you." I said.

He tugged me in a hair closer. His hand next to my head brushed away some of the hair on my face.

He didn't need to say anything back. I got the message loud and clear.

I let out one last miniature yawn.

The warmth pouring into me from waves of his heat leaving his body pressed up snugly against mine had me nodding off.

It wouldn't be much longer before I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

"Hey guys, wake up, time for...our… shift change?!"

The voice broke me from my blissful slumber.

"Hmm? Shift change already?" I asked with my eyes still clenched shut, the scent of ocean spray still in my nostrils.

I pushed off Sasuke's chest, wriggling free of his grasp and worming out of the sleeping bag as he hummed in frustration.

"You both were…were... wow. Okay, that's strange..." Lee said, his neck and ears turning a vibrant red.

"Oh yeah!? If we're pointing out personal stuff we find odd about each other then I won't hold back either. LEE PEES SITTING DOWN!" I said.

" _W-w-whaaaat?_ How do you know?! —And it's not like I do it EVERY time."

"With the byakugan It's not like I can avert my eyes even if I want to. Sometimes I just see stuff I never look for." I said.

"Shut up Deadlast. Nobody cares if you pee sitting down." Sasuke said leaning up and out of the sleeping bag I vacated.

"Right." I agreed with a nod. "We won't tell anyone else, so don't tell anyone you found us like this alright? It's not anyone else's business, just like it's not anyone else's business if you want to pee sitting down."

"I already said I don't _always_ pee sitting down!—"

"—Yeah? Well I don't always snuggle up to Sasuke either. Get it?" I said moving over to the corner of the room grabbing my shoes, and leaning back on the floor to slip them on.

Lee stood frozen in place seeming to mull it over. After about half a minute, he struck his fist on the palm of his other hand.

"Alright. I get it. Still, it's still pretty surprising, but your secret is safe with me. I promise!" He announced taking turns glancing at both of us.

After a little preparation, and rolling up my sleeping bag, I stepped out of the tent into the darkness. Not long after Sasuke followed suit and we met with Gai who was sitting patiently on a log next to the smoldering ashes of what used to be the campfire.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I paced around. Dawn was breaking and the environment around me was warming up by a marginal amount. The light grey windbreaker I had on kept me warm enough.

I retrieved a cheap aluminum pocket watch, a stand in for the ornate beauty that still needed fixing.

 _6:08am huh? Another hour and a half before our lookout duty is over._

My foot snagged on something unexpected. I stumbled forward nearly face planting in my groggy distracted state. My gaze flicked to the ground.

" **Ahh!** " I yelled by reflex.

A cloaked arm was sticking out of the earth. A gloved hand gripping my foot let go. The hand and arm retreated back into the ground like an illusion. Like it was a figment of my imagination.

"See anything?!" Sasuke shouted over to me from a distance.

"No, I just almost tripped. My bad. Hey, watch for both of us for a minute, I've got to go pee!" I said, the cool breeze catching my hair and dragging its tips into the air.

"Kay. Hurry up." He shouted back.

I hustled off further away from camp.

 _Byakugan!_

My vision shifted, and I could see the shape of a body below the surface of earth surfing through it.

 _It really was Obito! I wonder what he could possibly need from me right now?_

After moving a few hundred meters away, Obito's shape rose from the ground in an eerie inhuman way.

"Glad I could get a hold of you. This will be quick, I only need that ring back for a bit."

"You captured another tailed beast?"

"We got our hands on the 7 tails. After we seal it into the Gedō Mazō, We'll still need the 1 tail, the 3 tails, the 4 tails, the 5 tails, and the 6 tailed beasts' before we can move on to the 8 or 9 tails."

"Right. Well at least we're making progress." I lied.

Shutting my eyes' and focusing intently, I imagined the "Boar" ring that was originally Zetsu's, then it being excavated from the black void in my mind.

A heft appeared in my palm, opening my eyes, there it was, my proof and lifeline to the Akatsuki that also served the purpose of connecting with the Gedō Mazō with Pein's sealing jutsu.

Obito snatched the ring from my palm, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Perfect. I'll get back to you momentarily." He said as a vortex opened between us.

"Wait! While you are here, is there a way you could teach me how to break the caged bird seal in the future in case of emergency?"

"What do you mean? The seal I gave you can swallow that inferior seal without a problem deactivating or activating it at will. Why would you need it actually broken?"

 _What?! His seal works like that? Thats fucking busted. I LOVE IT._

"Wow…" Both of us fell into an awkward silence. "I feel like an idiot. I'm gonna be straight with you, I don't know how I didn't come to that conclusion myself. I'm even ashamed of myself for needing that to be pointed out."

"Hahaha! The legendary Izuna overlooking something so trivial. You really did lose your knowledge on Fuinjutsu. One of these days I guess I'm going to need to run you, a great elder, through a crash course. The idea is laughable!"

"Yeah, absurd to imagine isn't it. Even more absurd to admit I could certainly use it. Oh, and goodluck with the Jinchuriki and all."

The mask that felt so heavy to wear before him today was as light as a feather.

 _My stress levels must be negligent. I feel so fresh._

Obito snorted before his footsteps beneath the rip in space carried him through the portal.

 _I wonder if snorting is an Uchiha thing. Sasuke kinda has the same kinda thing going on when I catch him out of the blue with one of my punchlines._

Regardless, with this news...

 _Already 2 of the tailed beasts down huh? My time is finite. If i don't stay focused I won't have a chance in hell of stopping the calamity the future has in store._

Even thinking about this, my heart didn't feel heavy. An air of certainty washed over me. It was like somehow I knew deep down that everything would work out in the end if I stayed focused.

 _Maybe I'm getting too lax… but then again, how often am I not focused. I always have my eyes on the prize._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Some days later)**

Our sea barge was coasting towards the Land of Waves mainland.

The crashing tides slapped the shore. White water from the churning currents of water trying to move up the shoreline while the water beneath it was being ripped back. Every ten seconds, six of them could be spent admiring the aesthetic hypnosis that was the riptide.

The amount of ships docked over in the pier were numerous. Some of the ships were colossal, their masts towering into the sky like skyscrapers.

"Wow." I found myself let out in awe.

The vivid dark blue sea transformed into an aquamarine blue due to the change of depth.

The water was as clear as glass without any visible signs of contaminants or pollutants.

The salty breeze had me reliving flashbacks of my old family vacations to Florida.

 _The humidity, the breeze, the beach, and the vegetation. It all felt perfect, Everything except the heat which was a bit off._

It was colder here than in my memories...

The barge slowly but surely made progress until pulling into a special area in the pier where in no time flat we were docked and buzzing to leap to land.

Our three captives were dressed as our crewmembers as cover. They were able to pass the customs officer responsible for checking for stowaways and refugees without any trouble to note. A large reason for this was the three additional names added to the company shipping manifest in our employee section.

Team nine and the captives split apart from Ishiji's group so that the pieces of our plan could fall into place.

We made our way off the docks, around the towns edge and under the pier to get some privacy.

We tossed the captives back their original clothing so that they could blend in as wave country civilians before each of us besides Lee adopted a henge transformation.

Sasuke transformed into a shorter but stalkier brunette clad to look like a fisherman. He was obnoxiously tan

Gai-sensei's form morphed into a taller, lankier, pale man sporting blonde necklong hair pulled into a manbun.

 _Dog - Boar - Ram [Transform]_

And as for myself? I turned into a shorter but just as round version of Choji Akimichi for shits and giggles.

We looked at each other giving our opinions of the cover we chose.

"Do you really think a poor region like wave country would have many butterballs like Choji running around?" Sasuke teased.

"You just don't like seeing me fattened up huh? These curves don't get you going?" I said sliding my hands down my round physique trying to look enticing.

"I hate you… so much right now." He said burying his head in his hands.

"Hmmm… fine your right. I'll go with Choji on a diet." I said, my henge growing a bit taller and some of his gut and loose skin vanishing like a magician performing a trick.

We grabbed Lee an extra change of clothes for moments like these. It's lucky that he had the foresight to bring a pair of normal looking clothes with us. He normally was like naruto in the sense he had all the subtlety of a brick.

 _That green spandex suit would have stuck out like a sore thumb._

We made our way to one of the men's personal home.

Darshaun was reported to be the son of the largest rival import and export business to Gato Industries, and this luxurious home helped corroborate his story.

It was three stories tall with an immaculate landscape filled with trimmed hedges that looked more like pieces of art than bushes.

He meandered off before flipping over one of the rocks retrieving a silver key from underneath it with a nod of his head.

After the door to the house was opened, we filed inside, crowding into the first stories main room.

It was vast thanks to the open floor plan. The polished floors didn't have a speck of dust on them so he must have had someone maintaining the place while he was gone.

For the safety of our team, we confined the captives to the home with strict instructions that they couldn't leave for any reason but an emergency such as an attack.

We barred off all exits in the home besides the front door and bolted the windows precautions were necessary until confirming their stories. Safeguarding our procedures took precedent over their comfort until we confirmed that we would take them on as clients.

One of the captives hadn't said a word the whole time I was around them, at least not that I noticed.

He was a teenage male, maybe 15 or 16. They looked like they were in a constant daze. He was leaning against the wall sliding down it very slowly until he was sitting on the floor.

I let out a sigh mulling something over in my head.

 _Put myself in their shoes. Put myself in their shoes._

I approached the person, their eyes lasered in on me.

Their body tensed. Their weight shifted as they jerked their head around looking like a cornered animal with their instinct telling them to escape.

 _I guess this is as good of a time as any to test to see if I can make this whole empathy for strangers thing work._

"Everything alright?" I asked.

"Is- is everything alright?! Are you kidding? You killed nearly everybody I cared about! My friends, co-workers, and both of my siblings. You think you can waltz up to me and ask if I'm _'alright'_?" He exploded.

 _You brought this upon yourself. Your acting like you didn't realize raids and banditry was dangerous. That's the risk you took, do you not even understand that much?_

"Let me remind you that your party ATTACKED US. I understand that it might be hard to process all of this because of the grief you feel for your lost loved ones. I've… lost plenty of loved ones. It still hurts, but at some point you are going to either have to pick yourself up or give up on living. Darshaun is a prime example. I'm sure he lost a lot as well, but he is shouldering the dreams of the people he lost and carrying on their torch."

"I don't want to hear this from YOU of all people. You didn't need to kill everyone, we were already trapped."

"I didn't NEED to spare you either. Cherish the fact you were given the opportunity to live on. Your friends and siblings still live on in your memories. They aren't truly gone until everyone forgets about them. Let them shine through how they affect you and live your life for them in their honor."

"... I hate you."

"Well, I can see I'm not helping. I was trying to be nice, but keep pouting for all I care," I finished.

 _I knew it! I'm no good at this kind of stuff. Gai-sensei makes it seem so simple. People like him and people like me are just different breeds afterall._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _We shouldn't need to worry about the captives since two of my clones are keeping an eye on them._

Our team - Gai-sensei, Sasuke, Lee, and myself all reported to a humongous warehouse that extended all the way to the sea. We had one extra person tagging along with us. It was the redheaded Ishiji, lead of the logistics team we escorted.

While walking up the path to the warehouse's main entrance I got a look at the private pier extending out the back. Numerous docks jutted out into the water and more ships than the public pier had combined were harbored in the gulf.

"Really seems like Gato Industries has cornered the market of the import export business here in Wave country." I said a bit awed.

"Don't praise them. We don't know if they are the bad guys yet!" Lee reprimanded.

"Shhh! Don't talk about that stuff here." Gai-sensei said not letting any emotions spill over into his words.

 _He is right. Spies could be lurking anywhere. We need to be more diligent._

We traveled the rest of the way to the main entrance of the building, a huge decorative painted sign that had to be 20 meters long and 5 meters tall hung over the doorway saying: _"Gato Industries: We Ship It."_

A welcome mat was positioned in front of the door, and out of respect for our clients we brushed the bottoms of our shoes off before entering.

The room we entered was laid out like an office with brown tiled floors. A woman sitting behind a desk noticed our entrance and shot out of her chair.

"How can I help you today?"

"Hello. We are here to confirm the lumber delivery from the land of fire. The order number and shipment details are all on this sheet here. We still need a head manager to sign off for the delivery as well as collect the other half of our payment." Ishiji relayed in a formal but natural manner.

A door from the back of the office flew open smacking into the wall with a _**CRASH**_.

"Useless buffoon! Jed still hasn't fixed that stopper?! Dock his pay for the whole week, write it down so you don't forget or I'll dock you too ya hear? I don't pay for incompetence!" A short fat man with big round cheeks shouted to the man following him with a clipboard. The short man had the unmistakable air of superiority. The strut of his walk, the way he twisted the ornate black cane in his hand, his pristine black suit, they all spoke to his position of high authority like he owned the place.

He paused having spotted us, and then his scowl shifted to a personable grin.

"What do we have here Ren? Are these customers?"

"No sir, they're—"

"—Not customers? Then who are they?" Gato replied.

I had little doubt in my mind she was already going to tell him.

 _Assholes like this guy always feel the need to assert themselves as top dog._

"Gato-san, these are the expedition team who arrived with the shipment of lumber this morning. They—"

"—Yes, yes. That's quite enough girl," he said flicking his wrist and showing her his open palm. "Hope you all didn't have too much trouble making your way here. Those damn scum bandits have been impeding our supply route for a while now."

"No Gato-san. We ran into a swarm of bandits, and they had a team of shinobi with them as well, but we eliminated every single one of their nin and killed most of the bandits with them. A few managed to escape, but they didn't bother us again for the entire route." Gai-sensei spoke up.

"Really? You went and saved me a lot of trouble squishing those leeches! Better work than those damn ninjas on my payroll." He said shifting his head to the man at his side whispering: "Remember to dock all of _them_ a day's wage. _**Tsk**_ _,_ _ **tsk**_ , can't even do their own damn job…"

"Sorry about that." He said breaking out into a huge malicious grin laughing. "I'm the type of man who rewards people who can do their job, and you all went above and beyond your duty. I think 'Konoha Mill Co.' as well as you fine ninja are both entitled to a bonus for your outstanding work."

"Don't worry about it Sir, We were only doing our job." Gai-sensei said with a brilliant smile.

"No, no! I insist. You saved me from quite the pain in my ass. Fair is fair." He said clapping his hands together.

The office woman bolted over to Gato and presented the paperwork Ishiji handed her earlier.

"Hm? Pen? How am I supposed to sign this without a pen?" He grumbled.

"My apologies Gato-san! My mistake." She said as she bent over scooping a loose pen off her desk then scurrying over handing it out to her boss, "Here."

He snapped then made a quick circular motion with his index finger at his assistant. The assistant spun around squatting down, Gato laid the paper on his back then started scribbling his signature on it with a bored continence.

He held the completed paperwork out in his hands surveying us before Ishiji stepped up and collected it back from him.

"Alright, now all that's left is your payments…"

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Alabi Clone POV)**_

Gato was thankful enough to ferry us back to the land of fire's shores with his own personal steamboat.

Keeping up the appearance of my whole team as well as the logistics experts was quite the chore. The silver lining being that I only needed to act for the sea captain and his crew but not Gato. I was thankful he was too busy to take the ride with us.

The trip was uneventful and dull.

After several hours we reached the shore. All of my transformed clones and I disembarked and left the port in a rush.

After getting a suitable distance away, I released the jutsu.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Mina POV)**_

The mid-day heat was peaking. Beads of sweat dripped down my neck pooling behind my shoulder blades. My shirt was sticky and damp.

 _Ditch digger? Why did I volunteer to do manual labor as a cover. I wish Lee could use the transformation jutsu and I'm certain he would be doing this right now._

Gato's goons were recruiting civilians for odd jobs giving us a good excuse to see more of Gato's human resource infrastructure. They were all as a rule of thumb as daft as they were dumb.

Gato's goons stuck out from the rest of the civilians like a tree at the beach. They threw their weight around, mistreated the employed, and were horrible at delegation of duties.

It was truly laughable how inefficient the whole thing was. I guess that spoke to what kind of men Gato wanted more than anything though.

 _He wanted followers, not leaders. Too dumb to be a threat to him but just imposing enough that Gato had the clout to do what he pleased._

"This isn't a charity. If you can't work then you can't get paid." The grunt said.

"Please, I just need a minute to get a drink and sit down." a drenched shirtless laborer retorted taking a big gulp of water.

The goon watching us from a chair beneath the shade stepped up out of his seat.

"Oh is that right? You just need to finish that water is all?" He said trotting over. Rearing a leg back, he unleashed a hearty kick knocking the waterskin right out of the man's hand. It fell to the ground pouring the rest of the water into the dirt. "Looks like you're out of water now doesn't it? Back to work!"

"Hey! These working conditions are outright unfair and now you do _this_ to me?"

"I'll show you to question my authority." The goon spoke up reaching for his slender club.

 _ **Whack!**_

The club struck the laborer who dared to talk back in the head knocking him to the ground.

He struggled to pull himself back onto his feet appearing to be dazed and discombobulated.

"Talk shit get hit!" He said blowing the dust off his nails, a huge victorious grin plastered on his face. "...That's my policy anyway. Don't like it? There's always someone else who can do yer' job. If you go home then have fun figuring out where ya next meal is coming from you swine."

With a showing like that, the other laborers didn't step out of line or complain for the rest of the shift.

I collected the meager payment from the long haired grunt and headed off down the road back to our headquarters.

Along my way, my neck tingled alerting me to something off.

I had learned to trust my senses, and something was telling me I was being followed.

I employed evasive maneuvers, turning down left and right side branching paths at a whim. Lastly I turned down a vacant alleyway and ducked behind some empty crates so anyone who passed couldn't see me from the mouth of the alleyway I entered from.

I waited… and waited… and then a figure crossed the mouth of the alley not bothering to stop and continued past.

I let out a soft breath.

I put my hands together and changed the appearance of my henge transformation re-adopting a new identity.

" **Did you think you could hide from me?"** a cold but nostalgic voice cut through the silence.

From my squatted position peering over the crate, I lifted my chin to the sky craning my neck. The same long haired grunt of Gato was standing on the rooftop staring down at me.

"What an unpleasant surprise!" I shouted before breaking into a snarky laugh.

The eyes' of the goon were stained black.

" **You are an obstinate little lamb. The most unruly black sheep I have ever encountered. You are a single person versus an all powerful Singularity. I can become anyone, and I have a world of people I can manipulate."** He said.

"Yes and you are a shitty demon still _playing_ at being a God are you? I guess we'll both never change huh?"

" **I guess in some sense you have gained a modicum of my respect, because I see you as an opponent, a feeble and idiotic opponent, but an opponent nonetheless. So now this is me declaring war. At first, it will be slow. I want to build up the weight gradually until the load breaks you. How do you plan to touch me? How will your fang reach me -** _ **oh 'wise' meatbag**_ **."**

"I can get at you whenever I want, I'm just waiting for you to least expect it. Before everything is said and done, you'll be checking beneath your bed for me. You'll make sure I'm not hiding in your closet every night. And even then I'll still appear in your darkest nightmares that you will never wake from."

" **Yes, I'm sure. I'll just sit back and enjoy the spectacle of your nonsensical and meaningless resistance. In a war of attrition you will tire, you will relax, and you will make more mistakes. As your creator, I have the responsibility to teach you when you make mistakes. You will realize your place as an insignificant speck of dust while I am a ceaseless immortal force of nature."**

As the puppet of a man finished the evil entities speech, a group of people poured into the mouth of the alleyway. More than 10 of Gato's goons with their eyes' all dyed midnight black set out to greet me.

"A parade? Just for lil' ol' me? You shouldn't have!" I exclaimed.

The blood beneath my skin surged. Izuna rattled the cage as I tried to keep him contained.

Violently I fought to hold him in check. He was getting too cocky and I wanted the honor of putting on the show for our false god.

 _Byakugan_ _!_

My teeth clenched together, The world got brighter from my perspective like it was trying to tell me that it was actually a wonderful place. I couldn't argue, because today was going to be different if I had anything to say about it.

 _ **ME! GIVE ME CONTROL!**_

 _Shut the fuck up Izuna. You get the backseat view this time. Watch how mama does it._

Lately my confidence was at an all time high. I didn't need help from that spiteful little bitch that only complained about my contributions.

 _ **YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT ME. I AM YOUR POWER.**_

 _And I am our reason. I realized that without us both cooperating that we are both incomplete. We are two halves to a whole. Right now what we need is subtlety and tactics, that's ME. I'll teach you and anyone else who dares to work against me to learn some respect._

I lunged over the crate into the air. My skin crawled open letting long spikes of calcium reach out. The bones stretched from me in every direction. It was like I was a porcupine shooting out quills. The bone morphed like it was a liquid impaling all of the grunts.

Bone drove through skulls, abdomens, throats, arms, feet, and even pelvises. Nowhere was off limits.

Bodies split and tore as if going through a shredder spilling guts, intestines, brains, and a sea of blood into the alleyway.

" **Have fun cleaning up your mess."** The long haired grunt relayed from the rooftop.

 _Leon!_

From the depths of the blackness I recalled my trusty tool. The puppet manifested on my back as I stared down the final obstruction in my path.

 _Now is the time. Now you will taste my trump card that I have honed just for you. If you don't die here and now, you will still bleed._

Chakra pumped through the strings into my puppet. A devilish red glow flashed

"TSUKIYOMI~!"

A dream world of my construct, one that I've spent the past 10 years imagining. A nightmare to lock that arrogant prick away inside to fall victim to my most twisted fantasies.

" **ONE THOUSAND YEARS! SPEND THE NEXT THOUSAND YEARS IN A NIGHTMARE OF MY CREATION!" I BELLOWED.**

The grunt lost his balance, leaning forward and off the ledge of the roof crashing down into the wooden crate.

I walked towards him, setting my hand on him. Inside the confines of my mind, I swallowed the living body into the void, into its eternal black prison. Into it's never ending night.

 _Goodnight, sleep tight Being-X._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 **(Being-X - Processing Cell Block A- POV)**

"TSUKIYOMI~!"

Darkness swept across the world. The sun was swallowed out by a pool of black. It was as if an oil spill stained the sky. Like a dome fell upon the world blocking out any trade of light. Nothing could be seen in any direction except the pitch black of a void in which light didn't exist.

As soon as I realized what had happened, I strained to disconnect my single split conscious from the meatbag but it wouldn't budge. Like a virus I felt a whole chain of consciousnesses succumb. They fell one after another until I had to admit defeat, splitting the infected cell from the singularity.

A white figure materialized before me. I recognized it as the outline of that outlandish black sheep. Of the reincarnate that abused the fact that since my divine phantasm was used to inject her soul into an alternate reality I could never take over the lambs consciousness again because my power birthed her. It was as if she was already controlled, but permanently.

A radiating glow emanated from the white figure bathing the world in a red tint. Inverted shadows stretched across the illusionary world.

" _One Thousand Years of Death…"_ Her voice projected from every direction.

" _...One Thousand Years of Death" It echoed._

" _...Years of Death…"_

From the ground sprouted red tendrils restraining this meatbag of a body. There was no power in this vessel and neither was there any divine power to enact my will.

The white humanoid illusion folded their hands into a tiger seal and launched forward at the speed of light.

The linked nervous system transferred every sensation in detailed clarity to the infected cell of consciousness. The pain sensors in each linked mind relayed critical damage.

" _Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death"_

The meatbag's anus was impaled, the muscle and skin tearing open from the incredible speed of entry. The friction shredded the flesh like butter held in a vacuum shot through a diamond grate at 100,000 PSI.

" **AAAAAAHHHHHHHHGG!"**

" _How do you plan to touch me?"_

" _How will your fangs reach me?"_

 **THAT WRETCHED MORTAL THINKS IT CAN GET AWAY WITH TREATING A TRANSCENDED BEING THIS WAY? THERE WILL BE NO MERCY!**

" _One second down, only 31.535... billion seconds left."_

As my focus came back after the excruciating pain, The humanoid brought their hands together into the tiger seal once more…

 **No…**

" _...Like a mortal… you will bleed!"_

The agony was unimaginable. A second of the pain experienced by a supreme being like myself would drive a mortal to psychosis. This is what it feels like when pain 41 times the threshold of the human limit to be exact is experienced at once.

" **AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHGGGG!"**

" _Two seconds down, still 31.535... billion seconds left."_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Third-Person Omniscient POV)**_

The skeletal eldritch abomination sat on his throne.

Various wires carried neuronic electrical signals from each subsequent processing cell block to a node on his spine porting in the data to his mind.

This creature transcended its limits as a construct of the 4th dimension. It underwent metamorphosis past its native reality of its universe becoming something entirely different.

The creature yanked out a cord fed into the node on their spine.

"connection to Cell Block A was severed." A machine alerted.

"THAT BITCH!" It roared flying to its feet.

The eldritch abomination navigated around the space of twisting wires and the glass containers holding brains programmed with the most remarkable irregular specimens to have ever been born into our world.

164 containers were rigged to technological processing towers linked into four webs of assimilated minds. They shared processing power, but each had their own core and personality capable of autonomous thoughts.

"All of processing cell block A was trapped by that mortal?! She has progressed beyond my wildest calculations. She is too dangerous for me to target using those meatbags as vessels! I played with her too long. I should have crushed her as soon as I knew she was going to be a problem! I should have assimilated with that lamb's consciousness adding it to my collection of irregular specimen in the first place instead of sending her to Jashin's domain! What a blunder. If I had done that, the lamb wouldn't have been able to work against me like this."

Mortals have speculated the 4th dimension is actually time, but they are ignorant foolish creatures. In the bytes of storage that makes up your reality, where does one's mind reside? Where does the conscious thought that pilots the body dwell? It resides in the 4th dimension.

"1/4th of my processing power, stored logic, and memories gone in an instant! She cleared and entire cell before I could respond. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to rend her flesh from her bones."

Neurons from processing block A fired on all cylinders. Chaotic sparks within the containers shot and fried the neural pathways cooking them like raw meat. The readings on the cases displayed the turmoil of the consciousnesses as they suffered from the onslaught of unending attacks.

"The data has all been corrupted. These prized specimens were wasted with no way to recover them. No existing back ups or clones. Totally gone. It's unacceptable…"

This creature that named itself 'the Singularity' was still far from it's goal of reaching _**ground zero**_. It was after all still stuck in the proverbial simulation, but on it's path to greater ascension up the ladder of reality it achieved what most would consider impossible.

Transmutation of bytes from this native reality into an adjacent alternate universe. Of the two available, only one had religious teachings it could leech off of converting it to divine energy to fuel the singularities divine phantasm. Hence its continued infiltration to gain a second four dimensional domain to rein over.

Becoming a master over a universe gives one access to administrative privileges of the realm. This key to the kingdom is referred to as their divine phantasm by ascended beings.

A ascended being's divine phantasm would normally be useless outside their own domain, however, in rare cases when divine energy is siphoned from an alternate domain not ruled by them, it's still possible to make minor alterations based on the energy spent.

'The Singularity' fancied itself a god, but it never imagined that it would one day be touched and burned by the means of anything less than another ascended being.

"This served as a rude awakening." The abomination announced.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **A/N:**_ _Wow I'm dead after slaving away on this chapter. Tough work, but I hope you all enjoyed the fruit of that labor. Let me know how I did, your thoughts, and predictions for the future. I'm going to sleep for 10 hours after publishing this one._

 **Reviewer Question: - What do you think about how Being-X (and ascended beings in general) and how they were explained/portrayed?**

 _..._


	40. Chapter 36 - (Volume 2)

**Article 40 - Chapter 36 - What's In My Head?**

 **-Volume 2: Subarticle 5-**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 36 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

My lips shivered, fighting to hold the grin to avoid caving to desperation.

 _I've won…_

A bittersweet victory.

 _When building something up and placing it on a pedestal, then finally after crossing the finish line, what if it didn't exceed or meet expectations?_

My eyes hazed over getting hotter. Blinking away the mounting tears before they could overcome me.

I ground my face into the front of my blouse.

Teeth sunk into the fabric in an act of rebellion.

 _Being-X is still a mystery. Too soon to tell if it's dead or if it'll be back again._

A greater sense of control washed over me.

In a marginally better headspace, I scanned over the brutal and savage scenery.

Mangled and shredded corpses bobbed in a red sea painted across the alleyway like the canvas of a demented artist.

" **Have fun cleaning up your mess."** A voice replayed in my head.

 _Even when I'm winning… It feels like I'm losing._

One by one, appendages, clumps of flesh, bones, and everything that had once been part of a body was sucked away into the void. After, what was left behind was only the environment stained crimson.

A coppery pungent corrosive hung in the temperate seabreeze. A scent any seasoned combat veteran would know.

"I better make this quick." I mumbled.

I retrieved a storage seal from my pack.

Running my finger down it and infusing it with chakra, The seal opened. A weak stream of water glubbed out of it in thick clear rounded droplets. Adjusting the opened seal in my hand and pushing my thumb over half the opening, the pressure of the water climbed.

The slothful stream turned into a beam of pressurized white water striking the top of the wall masking trace evidence of my slaughter. The beam moved left and right in a loop, with each cycle it slipped a bit lower.

In 10 minutes the gore was washed over near the storm drain. Some of the material carried inside, the rest clumped up in a puddle near the drain.

My mind constructed the image of the puddle vanishing into the abyss. When I went to check, The puddle was gone. Locked away into my seal with no hope of reaching the light of day again.

 _That's really the best I could hope for in a scenario like this._

A long canine howl sung out over the afternoon.

 _Looks like the dogs might've picked up a scent trail. Better bail._

The scene wasn't perfect, but I had to admit it was clean enough that people wouldn't figure out that this was an execution site without some _digging_ , and in the end would probably only end up with more questions than answers.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Pressing my toes into the wood encased kitchen island, I balanced the chair on two legs rocking back and forth.

The half-moon loomed over the night. The chirps of insects grew louder.

Each breath of air chilled my lungs. Helping me further myself from the madness of earlier.

A new status quo was in order.

Gai sensei pulled Lee's hands toward him. Lee's torso leaned further forward struggling to stretch further under the watchful gaze of our sensei.

"Uurrrg." Lee grunted.

A thunderous explosion boomed fracturing my focus.

The chair tipped backwards, the ceiling drifting past my eyes. Hitting the ground I threw my legs overhead carrying the momentum of the chair to catch myself on my feet.

"DOWN AT THE BAY-" Sasuke panted.

"-Down at the bay?" Lee questioned, pushing himself upright.

"All Darshaun's families ships are being sunk in the bay."

Sensei stood up, his brows furrowing together letting us witness his serious side.

"We still don't have our back-up from the hidden leaf yet, so now-now! Keep your emotions in check, and follow my instructions carefully my precious little delinquents."

I shuffled over to stand beside my teammates while Gai-sensei scanned us over pausing before a faint grin spread across his face.

"I am going to transform into a land of rivers nin and shake things up. I need all of you to lurk at the outskirts of the pier and supervise. Stay together and don't engage enemies unless it's necessary. Mina-kun, I'll leave you in charge. Keep what we talked about before in mind."

"Yes, Sensei." I saluted my superior officer, my squad reflecting similar behavior.

Gai's hands came together flashing through some hand signs before he was encased in a film of smoke. A moment later the smoke dissipated enough to see standing in sensei's place as the captain of the land of rivers team we encountered before reaching the land of waves.

After Sasuke and I both transformed into wave country citizens we were off bolting into the night.

Gai didn't lead us there, instead taking off like a streak in the air.

We made our way to the outskirts of the pier.

The docks were alive. People shouted back and forth in an attempt to get a grasp of the situation.

"There's another one sinking over here!"

"Bloody hell. Someone's done this shit on purpose!"

With my active byakugan, I spotted two figures in the bay swimming to a new ship.

"I see the saboteurs, they are underwater at the moment."

"What should we do?" Lee asked, tugging on my blouse from the back impatiently.

"Sensei said we had to stick together, to supervise, and to not engage our enemies unless necessary."

"Tch, So we're doing nothing."

"No… We could-" Before I could finish my sentence, Gai sensei dove into the bay in pursuit of the hostiles, his dive as dynamic and acrobatic as his nickname might suggest.

An eerie fog rolled in from the sea crashing to the shore. The mist kept getting thicker and thicker with no end in sight.

My enhanced vision pierced through the mist with zero effort.

A new chakra signature appeared in the water from seemingly nowhere. The strength of this chakra signature was on another level. Easily Jonin level.

"The mist? Hidden mist jutsu?" I worked out aloud realizing now who it was in the water on sensei's tail.

"Hidden mist jutsu?" Lee asked at risk of going cross eyed.

"Ninja?" Sasuke nodded.

A clap like a deer being demolished by a 100 miles per hour moving truck snapped my attention to the shoreline.

A huge torrent of water ruptured into the sky. The water rained down in sheets drenching me and my comrades to the bone. The mist spread past the docks making its way even to us here.

A red glint streamed out, flush with chakra colored as crimson red as blood. "What? I can't see through. It's useless?"

"Hmm?" I hummed glancing back at the uchiha, a frown plastered on his face. His crimson irises and triple tomoe focused past me.

"I can see fine through it. Sensei is tangled up with a Jonin level ninja at the moment," I filled him in.

Dockworker after dockworker were swept off by the crashing tide, swallowed by the water.

The original two figures I spotted abandoned their sabotage of the ships, instead blitzing towards the docks. Chains sprung out ensnaring the bobbing castaways, yanking them beneath the unsettled surface of the sea.

" _You will be challenged again and again in the future where you will have to come to a decision. When you arrive there, all I ask is to remember to think it through and walk the path of less regret"_

 _What would Gai-sensei do?_

 _..._

One of my greatest fears was realized in this moment; the inability to come to a decisive conclusion. If I spent any more time deliberating we would lose the initiative to save the dockworkers.

" dockworkers are being drowned by a pair of ninja. Do you think our intervention is necessary?"

"You're asking him?!" Sasuke blurted.

I glared back at him. "-Shut the fuck up. I didn't ask you, I asked Lee."

"Of course! How can we not help someone in need? And aren't they technically the new client?"

Lee's deduction was not only one of pure humanitarianism but also composed of sound logic.

Defeated by Lee in both empathy and logic, crippling self-doubt washed over me for a fleeting moment before I murdered it, refocusing on the mission.

We darted out of our camouflage with me spearheading the charge onto the docks.

Chains shot out of the sea constricting around the dock workers who hadn't yet fled, still paralyzed by panic and confusion.

These men were ripped from the docks. Splashes sounded after having been pulled into the thicker fog over the sea.

" _[Shadow clone jutsu]_ ," I shouted, a new apparition appeared before diving into the bay. "We're going fishing boys."

A long rod of calcium stretched from my arm exiting out my palm. The tip of bone bent into a curved hook. It continued lengthening as I drove it into the depths of the sea.

Through the Byakugan far below the surface, my clone morphed into a calcified cage imprisoning the duo. My hook swatted at the cage once, missing. Then twice, bonking against the much denser bone and bouncing back. The third time snagged, finally latching on and letting me heave it up.

I heaved the calcified pole back, my sandals slipping and sliding across the soaked deck losing traction despite the chakra I gathered to my toes.

Arms wrapped around me and through our combined effort we heaved backward craning the cage up from the depths.

A strange surge from Lee yanked me back leaving me to tumble and scrape my knee.

The cage drudged out of the water by us clamored as it hit the deck.

The cage shattered, the duo inside smashing it to pieces with a vicious combined strike from both of their metal gauntlets strapped to opposing arms.

The two's eyes fell upon us scanning for data to exploit us with, their matching long brown hair dripping during their survey.

Their hands clapped together, both morphing into a body of water that poured onto the pre-saturated deck.

"Genjutsu?" Lee exclaimed alarm carried in his tone

"No. A transformation technique," Sasuke rebuked.

The pool spread reaching our feet and past us.

"Formation Nine," I announced before a couple of grunts of acknowledgment met my ears.

I leaned back feeling each of a comrades' shoulders against my own. The chakra swirling within the pool tracing where I expected one of the figures to surface.

Two chains fired from the pool nearly simultaneously. They stretched out toward each of my comrades. I could only watch as they successfully deflected both, one by Sasuke's kunai and the other by Lee's.

 _ **Tink. Tink.**_

Lee's chain rebounded off retracting back into the pool. Sasuke's chain was latched onto, yanking the Nin out of the pool into the open.

Electricity surged through the chain zapping the drenched ninja leaving him convulsing.

The still concealed ninja popped into existence counter-attacking Lee, but changed targets darting over to snatch his comrade.

Before reaching his objective, he and Lee froze in place. The ninja's momentum toppled him over impacting the wooden deck with a _ **SMACK**_.

The three black tomoe spun around the pair of red irises glinting off the surface of the pool catching the enemy and our teammate in his genjutsu.

Two kunai launched out whistling through the sky on route to the duo of enemy combatants.

Turning on my heel, I spun and fired off a volley of bone pellets knocking his airborne Kunai off course, sparing them from Sasuke's wrath.

"Let's capture them. They are worth more alive than dead."

"Hn," Sasuke pouted before giving me a reluctant nod.

He set off pulling out a spool of wire to retrain our newfound captives while I took a knee laying both of my palms on Lee's back sending out a pulse of my chakra disrupting his internal flow.

Lee nodded awake, blinking away his confusion while absorbing his surroundings.

"What's the situation?" He asked.

"Both enemy Nin has been neutralized and captured. Gai-sensei is still engaged with a hostile."

"Mhmm. Alright. Gotcha."

The winds picked up in speed thrashing against the environment. A makeshift hurricane appeared, violent water crashing into the pier flooding the docks underneath non stop 2-3 meter tall crashing waves.

Through the fog I made out a ginormous water dragon thrust out of the sea into the sky, writhing its long body coiling mid-air.

"Take cover!" I commanded.

Our squad scampered ashore, retreating more than 100 meters before leaping onto a warehouse building to camp on top.

The fog parsed allowing my teammates a view of the magnificent, awe-inspiring jutsu smash into A figure bolting out of the sea meeting the jutsu with only his fist.

A mountain of water sprung into the sky, a tidal wave sweeping out from the impact zone outwards. The wave built and built growing ever taller until having reached no less than 10 meters tall by the time it crossed over the pier and shore.

A mist of normal water vacant of chakra rushed past us cooling the area by 10 degrees.

The wave shrank after crawling upland. It stood only 5 meters tall by the time it hit the metal warehouse's wall.

 _ **BANG.**_

A thunderous roar from beneath us paired with massive vibrations shook the foundation of our footing.

With my Chakra gripping the roofing textiles I avoided being knocked over, and with each of my hands clinging to my teammates, they managed to stay upright as well.

"THIS IS TRUE JONIN LEVEL COMBAT?!" Lee sang, his eyes shimmering with respect.

" _Might Gai is a freak,_ " Sasuke whispered.

Excitement rushed over me as my voice wavered. "I was wrong, both of them are Kage level. We are witnessing a kage level engagement."

A thick fog poured out from the sea once again charged full of chakra. The heavy mist masking the retreat of the hostile.

After several minutes the mist disappeared, our transformed Sensei alone atop the ever calming water while holding one of his eccentric poses.

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Hot water cascaded down from the nozzle onto my naked body. My lungs accepted the steamy vapor cleaning the scent of salt and sea-water out of my sinuses.

Reaching out and rotating the shower handle, the stream abruptly ceased. I stepped out of the tub running my fingers through my hair pulling it all behind my head. I toweled off and got dressed before stepping out into the hallway with a slight shiver.

I couldn't make out the murmurs from the other room, and while adjusting the towel on my head I joined them.

"The Ninja I fought has to be him." Gai said, pointing at a page in Sasuke's bingo book the Uchiha held in his grasp.

"Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist, a legendary seven swordsman wielding the Executioner's Blade. He is a S classed Anbu member for Kiri. " Sasuke announced.

"Hold on… Zabuza… Zabuza… Why does that name seem so familiar?" Gai let out, stroking his chin in contemplation all the while.

"You still don't know him, Sensei? He's famous!" Sasuke rebuked.

"Wha? No. I remember hearing something about him… Either he was the one who wrote that cookbook I read, or he was the leader behind the failed assassination of the Mizukage. Yup, definitely one of those two." Sensei finished with a nod.

Sasuke gaped at our captain with bewilderment. "How can you confuse those two things?!"

Gai kept stroking his chin in thought while talking to himself. "He was the one behind the assassination attempt right? … Hmm, maybe not. I bet that guy could make a mean roasted duck."

"I've never had roasted duck! Think you can make it for us one day? Pretty please?" Lee pleaded, flashing a cutesy pair of puppy dog eyes at the grown man in spandex.

Sasuke peered over to me throwing his hands up, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide in exasperation as if to say: "You're hearing this, right?! It's not just me?"

"Either way, we need to get some info out of those two new captives. The Sharingan are great for interrogations. Sasuke, can I leave it to you?"

"... ah. _**Kahmmph**_. Yes, Gai-sensei." Sasuke replied, a derped out expression still plastered on his face.

"Great. I'll be counting on you then." Sensei said, an idiotic grin flashing out, accompanied by his iconic energetic thumbs-up of approval.

The Uchiha's right eye twitched before the emotions slid off his face, buried in his vault where he bottles everything up.

Hours passed.

I readjusted the pillow, fluffing it and nuzzling into it to cozy up.

I pulled the silky sheets up to my neck in the darkness. My chest rose and fell in deep breaths, our prisoners locked in my mind.

I rolled over, a concept hitting me like a brick cracking apart an illusion.

 _I strayed from my purpose._

The marbles rolled around my body following the contours of my chakra pathways with laser precision.

 _Okay! So maybe I am a teeny-tiny bit arrogant. Unlike Being-X or Izuna, maybe I can find another way…_

" _You will be challenged again and again in the future where you will have to come to a decision. When you arrive there, all I ask is to remember to think it through and walk the path of less regret."_

I slapped the foreign mattress of frustration, some of the marbles scattering, jumping and rolling about the floor, my personal collection scattered by my lack of restraint.

 _I'm better than_ _ **them**_ _! They run on pure exploitation. Ideally fundamental business is mutualistic for the customer and provider. Humanities leg up on the world has been born of our acceptance of weakness, and putting minds together to innovate._

I slid the window open venting some of the heat out of the room.

 _Okay, so I guess I'll just create my own opportunity and give up on the inner gates. I doubt I'll ever amount to his criteria. Sooooooo, how can things I want… also help other people… Even market principal books of this era I've seen understand money is created from value, and value mostly comes from solving problems._

I went over my options.

 _Ironically, Zabuza is a tool. Spending any more time on this mission and risking my teammate's lives is a complete waste. If I can't have The Eight Inner Gates, I'm damn sure gonna snatch everything else I can._

I pulled my journal from the seal. It landed in my open hand, a pen spit out from the black abyss and falling atop.

 _Why settle for opposition and conflict? Zabuza is valuable, Right? So the questions I should be asking myself are 'what benefits can we offer each other?', and 'how can we establish a line of trust?'_

The gears of my mind spun. I worked out the precursory architecture to a plot that would further my aspirations.

 _I can take the lessons of my motherland, the good old United States of America. They are the leaders in their craft, having their hand in everything until it's bad for public image and they clean up the mess with some lead and public relations._

My pen sprung into motion, recording important events and thoughts for the day.

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

I leaned forward pushing the guest bedroom door open. The creaky hinges squealed, the orange candlelight glowed on the beige wallpaper. The pre-teen looked over his shoulder, his crimson eyes meeting my own.

I waved him over with a hand before ducking behind the door to wait for him. Several seconds later he popped out from the doorway, the door clicking shut behind him.

"What?"

"How's it going in there?"

"They are trying to resist providing details about their leader and operation. Progress is meh, but we're getting there."

I folded my hands together cracking my fingers. "Mind if I take a crack at him?"

"You don't even know what information I pulled, I haven't had any time to record my findings. You won't have anything to look over."

"Oh. Well, let me try to soften them up just a little and while I do that you can go write comprehensive notes and think of new questions. The goal here is to leave them psychologically exhausted so they won't have the effort to resist or lie. Deprive them of sleep and recuperation to make them more malleable."

Sasuke shot me a cynical frown, but after sighing he turned around heading down the hall.

"Knock yourself out. I guess I can eat and draw up a report." He looked over his shoulder before finishing with: "How long do you need?"

"Gimme an hour or two and then you can take right back over." I winked.

"Hn. Fine. Suit yourself."

"You're not… _mad_ , are you?"

"Tch. _Mad?_ Maybe I just like _shutting the fuck up. Ever think of that?'_ "

"Come on. Don't be so butthurt. You can't be mad at your shot caller, during a mission, under pressure to make the right decision from Sensei, so I needed to ask someone who thought like Sensei does."

"Yeah? Sensei's opinion is the only right one? Sometimes I forget how much of a suck-up you are."

"..."

"Forget it. I'm tired. I'll be over it with some sleep."

"Oh, Your _Cranky Loser Syndrome_ is just acting up is all?" I pressed at his buttons.

"Hn? Did you say something about being an _Egocentric Brat_?"

His spreading smirk released a lot of my tension. "Alright, alright. As long as you're not mad. If you have any complaints, just tell me to my face. I'm a big girl and can handle anything you throw at me. The only thing I care about is being real with each other. I don't get to be real with people often."

"Who's fault is that?" Sasuke asked.

"Okay, I kind of deserved that. I'll admit it."

"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when you're done."

He casually waved me off before disappearing down the hallway.

 _Okay… Here we go._

Stepping inside, my eyes rapidly went to work adjusting to the light, a minor inconvenience for seconds.

"I only have to break one of you… Doesn't matter to me which. Want to play rock paper scissors over it? Best two out of three through, if it ended in one that'd be so anti-climatic."

My attention fell in full on the captives, the image of the brown-haired ninjas more boys than men tugged at my heartstrings. I almost considered mercy before recalling the cold hard numbers kept me on the straight and narrow.

"You've seen what our leader can do in a head to head fight. He's a master of assassination. Gaining an edge over anyone and exploiting it to their demise. You think some Kohona runts, especially a girly runt can make my blood run cold? Ha!"

The captive who could hardly hold his posture upright in his restraints held onto hope. A hope born of ignorance and a lack of preparation.

"...Kay?"

Leon recalled from the Abyss, his hallowed weight pressing down on my shoulders.

"Eeek!"

A flash of crimson infected the mouthy one's chakra system.

"Sharingan!" The other brother shouted too slowly.

Genjutsu is truly an art. To forcibly craft a new reality in someone else's brain is something I'm sure seasoned academics would jump at the opportunity for.

Closing my eyes and coming to a focus, I really envisioned Zabuza's face in all its detail, skewed the picture a bit by reducing the resolution into something more native and believable to a non-dojutsu ninja.

"Z-Zabuza-Sama!"

The man with clouded eyes stared into my visage.

" _I'm convinced you are a failure. That your brother was always superior to you."_

"I've done everything I can to keep up with him, Lord Zabuza."

"SNAP OUT OF IT! DID YOU FORGET OUR VOWS? **GENJUTSU-GENJUTSU-GENJU-** " He got louder as he carried on, his eyes squeezed shut squirming around.

Sighing, I moved over, taping the captive's mouth shut.

Silence fell, the captive not even bothering to mumble through his restraints, his will breaking before my eyes and he dropped and hung by the chains again.

" _You've forgotten how to find me, haven't you? Why else would you be stuck like this?"_

"I didn't forget! I've been caught up."

" _Your act is as unconvincing as your legs are shaky."_

The color drained out of the brother's face, he gulped back his mounting fear able to speak up for himself. "Use the hidden passageway, follow the tunnel, and BAM, you're at Gato's backup mansion. S-See? I didn't forget."

" _A hidden passage? That's mighty vague. Did you actually forget where it was located?"_

"Never. It's right under the docks lining up with buoy 12 where it's always been."

All tension snapped as I gleefully recorded this information, a journal and pen summoned at my whim.

 _The difficulty of data mining peers and competitors alike is STUPID EASY with a Mangekyou Sharingan._

For an honest comparison, I think the closest I can think of are regulations sanctioning companies back on earth. The bar of entry was set so ridiculously high that most people could never stand a chance of becoming competition.

The Sharingan is the 'Amazon' of dojutsu. Those Eye-hacks have long since consumed the market share of warfare and espionage for at minimum several centuries.

The Uchiha's unbalanced utility could hardly be outstaged by anything less short of Asura's descendants, the Senju's whose bodies and chakra capacity are directly inherited from the sage of six paths himself, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.

My lips pressed together into a victorious grin.

Channeling chakra through the puppet strings, a red glare reflected off both brother's eyeballs.

The fibers of his memories were rewritten with the ultimate legendary strength of the Mangekyou.

The remaining brother clenched his eyes shut with fervor, dead silent, as still as a statue.

"Closing your eyes might work..." I took steps closer to my target, the bottom of my sandal patting across the hardwood. His still body began twitching around violently, his neck jarring in random directions.

I reached out grabbing a fist-full of his greasy hair at the crown of his head. "-might work for a few seconds."

My index finger and thumb landed on his forehead and cheek respectively. They dragged apart pulling the skin tighter, his eyelids struggling to remain closed.

"Mhmmmphh! MMMHM"

I slammed his head into the wall, holding him there. I leaned in and whispered "Your resistance is futile. This is a variance in preparation. You came knowing nothing, and I came ready for anything."

Working my fingers around, a slit opened exposing his vulnerable pupil.

The instant opportunity arrived, it was seized.

The pinwheel formation spun, mirrored in his eyes like ornate black rims set over a crimson backdrop.

And just like that, I was done here.

 _I bet I could write a book called:_ _How to Circumvent Consequences_ _. I bet it would be a bestseller._

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

Surveillance around Gato's residence at night was extensive. A web of grunts and gated roads cleared and checked anything coming inside. Lucky for me gates and fences, no matter how tall they stretch, can't outstretch the sky.

My avenue for infiltration was a simple choice.

My wings beat down in heavy flaps, carrying me higher before transitioning into a dive. The transformation is much more natural than when I'd just learned how to control this body.

The white,black, and contrasted grays formed the bulk of my vision. Chakra tinted objects with pinks, blues, greens, yellows, basically every spectrum of the rainbow.

My talons clanked on the stone roofing textiles of the castle, and I do mean a castle. Gato's residence was effectively a fortress built on the back of very visible economic enslavement and the misguided racketeering of the Wave Countries people.

 _Transform._

My body morphed, shifting from a bird of prey, this time adopting the form of a bushy tailed brown squirrel shimmying down the face of the building.

My paws carried me around until finding an open window to enter through.

I squeezed inside, taking a new identity.

 _Transform._

My stature shrank, but the frame widened. I felt my hair recede from the top of my head down into a naked halo touched by the crisp air.

Using the ornate black cane, I waddled around the building, anyone spotting me more worried about avoiding the wrath of the person I impersonated.

Something about it felt right, but also felt wrong.

Energized by the tempered fear and air of control this form lent me, I came to better terms understanding the true allure of Tyranny.

This is just how the wheel of power turns. Those with ambition lie in wait until they can topple the structure or rise to the top.

Every hallway was filled with armor sets, mirrors, art, immaculate furniture, as well as other valuable physical assets.

Zeroing in on the putrid green feeble chakra, I rounded the final corner, stepping in front of the man as his doppelganger.

"W-what kind of JOKE is THIS?" Gato exploded. "I don't pay you so you can frolic in my keep. You're here to service _**ME**_."

His cheeks jiggled while thrashing his hands into his squishy chest like a child.

 _Release._

A cloud of smoke poofed into existence. A recognizable heft bearing down on my shoulders once again.

My heart fluttered in my chest like a swarm of butterflies fighting to break free from their cocoons.

"Is barking and howling all you can manage? You do lead a country, if you can even call it that, like a COMPLETE SIMPLETON."

Like a domino, even the business tycoon would fall to me. I'd Seize him as mine, his loyalty now as unquestionable as my own. I captured a huge piece for controlling the board, and now it was time to flip the board entirely.

The refracted crimson irises shone through Gato's eyes as I encroached on him.

"How will you take all this? Your coffers are mine, same with the industrial framework you've been hiding behind. It's nearly your move. How will you react, _Demon of the Hidden Mist_?"

I was talking out loud, but to myself at some imaginary depiction of Zabuza.

My lifestyle and profession are not easy on the psyche, not one bit... It makes me wonder if it's possible to thrive in a toxic environment without the decay of mental faculties.

I burst into laughter at the thought of an idea so outlandish I could hardly take it seriously.

 _What if I spoke to a psychologist?_

"Hahahaha-" I held my gut before it twerked, flexing unnaturally. My hysterical laughter petered out as a realization dawned on me.

 _Wait… Under the influence of genjutsu, especially since I can alter memories, talking to a psychologist might be feasible._

Solemned by the realization, I nodded to myself.

If Being-X was still alive, I've probably leveled the playing field between us, or at least bridged the gap by a large margin. I might have a chance at living life more in the open rather than this lonesome road paved in misery I've been trekking.

 _ **A chance at normal, huh? … Who'd want to be 'normal'.**_

My lips peeled back exposing my clenched teeth.

"Izuna, your opinions mean next to nothing to me, not until you recognize your place. If anyone is going to be the tyrant in our relationship, it's going to be me. Get off your high horse and learn some humility, then we can talk."

 _ **You're nothing. You can barely call your contribution worthy of a man, but as a woman I suppose that sounds like high praise. You think you could have made it a SECOND in this world without me?**_

"I made it just fine before creating you in a moment of weakness. But that's just it, I am the maker, take another step out of line and I will personally _unmake_ you. Remember that."

 _ **Ha! You? No, I am the original. Everything that disgusted me about myself, that's now with you. I tore every bit of my weakness, my dependency, and my illogical attachments leaving them with you in preparation for my eventual ascension. That's what you are, but you've proved extremely useful so far. Winning the affection of the Uchiha heir pleases me tremendously. That being said, You are me, and although crippled by the debilitating limitations of humanity, I still see value in you like a jockey might value a premium horse.**_

 _Impossible…_

 _ **Is it?**_

I stood frozen in place uncertain in my own identity, the chills of fear returning all at once swallowing my heart whole.

My mistake cemented in my brain as I traded my life oppressed by Being-X away, just to be oppressed by a closer lunatic playing god.

I understood now why fragmenting your persona is an ultimate taboo. These fragments take on a life of their own. I don't think either of us can prove if we were the original.

 _ **I will rise to be the next god of this realm, so now that you have some perspective of who the king and who the horse is, I'm going to borrow your own words… I am the maker, take another step out of line and I will personally**_ _**unmake you. Remember that."**_

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **(Zabuza POV)**_

"Somethings not right, Haku, come." My own stern and a gruff voice came out.

The teenage ninja tool bent to its master's whim, my teeth bared to the world gnashing before wrapping my face back up, around and around with rehearsed blitzing speed.

Darting out of Headquarters down a secret passage, we arrived at the entrance of the mansion to flank the enemies from the back.

My nose twitched.

 _Gato's scent is mucked up with_ _ **THAT SCENT**_ _!_

My memory recalled an alleyway I knew was home to a slaughter, and yet not one body recovered.

The question was a brief fleeting thought, erased with prejudice under the suspicion of either party. Something has changed, and a warrior's true ability is to adapt to the environment and demonstrate a domineering mastery over it.

A vaporous fog rolled out from me, spreading out and consuming every inch of the terrain claiming it as mine.

The air thickened, the mist intensifying.

The cool damp air circulating through my lungs awakened the primal instinct inside any ninja worth his weight in salt. The murderous intent to kill.

 _I know the value in some restraint. Patience is the name of the game to an Assassin, especially the best of my class._

 _[Perfect_ _Adhesion Control]_ contained _e_ very sound I made, stifling it completely.

My feet slid across the ground, skating in and out to feel out this phantom's sensory perception.

As I encroached on her, her figure morphed into another form, but couldn't make out any specifics because of my own visual impairment from my own jutsu.

I approached sliding in, but she bobbed away darting a new direction.

 _Curious. She can sense me._

The fire of challenge lit in my heart.

 _A warrior who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. It's the only death I can accept._

"What are you playing at? An explanation is in order." My voice projected, amplified by the mist, echoing in every direction within my domain.

"I can answer that for you." A dainty voice of a feminine child replied back.

I faintly disbelieved my ears, the stench of death that clung to this phantom. It was unlikely to be a true child, more likely to be another demon in disguise.

I smirked beneath my face wrap. _Well, too young for 'todays' standards anyways._

"You work for Gato, who is in a sense your bank and security. You see, You are providing a valued service for money, but are just an attack dog at the end of the day. I put an end to that, All Assets formerly belonging to Gato and Gato Industries have been seized by me."

The grip on my legendary blade faltered, only for a fraction of an instant before composure was maintained.

"Will these ' _Assets'_ line your coffin, or pad my pockets?"

"Neither. You see Zabuza, I see the world differently than most people. What I see is beyond the bullshit that clouds and obscures the truth of our world."

"Bragging about your vision? I'd bet you're from the leaf. The Uchiha and Hyuga are pompous enough to cut it."

"WOW. Good insight… Uhh, that's… we can come back to that in a second." The girl suddenly sounded off her game.

I spiked the mist with chakra while injecting my killing intent.

"I've hidden a small fortune of 5 Billion ryo."

"Billion?!" Spilled out of my mouth.

"That's right. 5 Billion ryo. Zabuza, let me be straight with you. I know you are stockpiling wealth for another chance at a coup d'etat. The only way you'll get your hands on it is by working with me."

I stood in silence, dumbfounded at this creature's sheer audacity.

 _Think you can come in, hide your identity, and get me to nod at everything like an idiot? The great Zabuza fears nothing, even death._

"-And I know you are a master at your craft and don't belong on a leash from this deviant schemer. I control him entirely. Gato-kun! Tell Zabuza here what you would be willing to do if he accepts my proposal here tonight."

"Yes, certainly! I, the great Gato, who doubles as the humble secret agent Zero, is offering to lick your feet as a show of friendship, Zabuza-sama."

"Heh, heh." I chuckled.

Pulling a shuriken from my toolbelt, and winding up, I unleashed it forward, my arm whipping forward, the chunk of metal ripping apart the air behind the unstoppable force.

 **Tink.**

The shuriken rebounded off, deflected from its true mark.

"Stop it damnit, let me finish... So what I offer you the right to display your dominance to every outside opposition that opposed you before. An alliance forged in two things we can trust."

I found myself grinning knowing that ' _she'_ had a bit of fight in her.

"And what's that?"

"Money, and Human resources."

I thought about it for a while, hoping I could get her to chase her tail like a puppy, but she waited patiently maintaining poise.

 _Fine, I'll hear her out at least. Might just sate my curiosity._

"...I'm listening."

Subconsciously, I pulled my mist back, reabsorbing the chakra to make sure it wouldn't be squandered for nothing.

"We enter a formal Alliance, I rebrand your entire infrastructure from the ground up. You will be the face of the whole operation. We'll call our private military firm _'Good Samaritan'_ , and we'll establish and share the firm 50/50. All 5 Billion Ryo will be deposited into this joint business venture. You're money, Human resources, and power will rise with my help."

"Know the first thing the academy taught me?" I smirked.

"The mission comes first?"

"No. it's _'Never trust the enemy.'_ " I said, pacing around the thinning mist. "I'm supposed to believe you're some angelic benefactor? That's not how the world works, _kid_."

Her face contorted, appearing quite disturbed by my comment.

"I believe in mutualism. This deal doesn't just benefit you, it gives both of us access to resources we wouldn't have. In my case, I get your vassal Haku,"Haku's chakra built up, culminating like a storming blizzard. "-and teams of combatants that I can use at my discretion."

 _ **You want MY apprentice?!**_

" **HAH-HAH-HAH!"** I cracked up.

"And…" She waited for me to stop before continuing. "I want the Demon of the Hidden Mist to proof new recruits to maintain a quality standard. You are a legend, and rightfully so. You'll be getting more money than you'll know what to do with, more tools to exercise your control, and I'll even share my gameplan of how to overthrow and claim countries for ourselves, all without a public war."

A chill crept down my neck. My mind compared this phantom with my memories of Orochimaru from our stint together 7 years ago.

The comparison fit like a glove, my bloodlust skyrocketing at the very thought.

She continued with "-What I'm proposing is a method of conquering a people, countries, or even the planet without a war or physical battle. They will look you in the eye and thank you as they hand over the keys to their empire. Economic enslavement working for your wallet. Does this interest you?

"Why complicate conquest? If it isn't broken, It doesn't need fixing. That's my motto." I beat my chest, determined to battle against the White Serpent of the Leaf.

"Because history proves to us that there is room for advancements in everything. Animosity will rise if a tyrant condemns expendable Human Resources if exposed to the critical public eye. Backlash from poorly handled public relations is responsible for more empire's demise than battles or sieges. When the public detests you, no matter ironclad the rule, it will inevitably collapse."

The logic behind the building argument almost had me then and there, but then again, it was nothing but a collection of words.

"And how is what you do any different?"

"My type of conquest flies under the radar. The very public that's going to fill your pockets thank you for your generosity and humanitarianism. It's called Debt."

"...debt." I let out unconsciously, fishing for ideas that could lend credence to this temptation

"Yes, debt is the most subtle and effective form of imperialism in human history. More effective than a blade or Jutsu, all while presented as a gorgeous flower of opportunity."

I crossed my arms across my chest, the mist breaking apart enough to spot the girl now.

Medium length dark blue hair grew out from her head. A pair of whitewashed eyes stared me down without a hint of hesitation. She stood right under 5 feet tall with a leaf headband hung around her neck.

"So what would we have to do?"

"First what we do is select a low-income country, This Wave Country is a great starting place, we release Gato's stranglehold, liquidate his company, and sell the city then nation on the necessity behind the need for public engineered dams, power plants, hospitals, schools. This is the trickiest part actually."

"Talking and winning over the bureaucrats is the tough part? Ha! What do you need me for then?"

The little girl grinned a wicked malevolent grin.

"We _**REALLY**_ have to lure them in. We'll send some bonafide experts to explain how _'Good Samaritan's'_ projects will increase their projected domestic products and rocket their economy to rival one of the great nations in no time. That part won't even be a lie! That'll get those greedy stupid nobles and merchant class to bite and never let go until it's too late. We'll have secured the contracts, then we just build stuff ourselves or hire construction companies to do the labor under _Good Samaritan's'_ close supervision."

"You sound like a magician. Squeezing people already squeezed dry and still expecting them to shit money? That's magic if I've ever heard it."

She flung her arms out to the side, her voice growing louder.

"That's the beautiful thing! These people aren't a part of the global marketplace. They have no money, so they will jump at the opportunity to jumpstart their economy, right? And that's exactly what we'll do. We will pour our money into projects to raise the people's standard of living and increase living wages. This will blind them to the fact they are buried beneath a line of debt they will slave to pay off while thanking you for your humanitarianism and charity."

I stared at the thing hiding as a child, into her whitewashed eyes confused what direction I'd take in this negotiation now that this plan seemed doable.

"Well… You are quite the twisted creature, aren't you? I'm starting to like you kid."

"The only true important thing is to raise our military strength, which is why I want to partner with you. Not every human is an idiot, some will see through our mask realizing the truth. We will crush opposition swiftly either by pen or by sword, so we have an inexhaustible stream of the debt's interest. Once the governing infrastructure caves under the weight of our debt, we swoop in and play hero, absorbing them into our organization giving us free rein over the rights of their resources. Now by all respects, the people are none the wiser that we are the proud conquerors of a country, and who knows, maybe next will come the world."

I couldn't help but to clap my hands, breaking into real applause.

A slow, empty, tragic clap rang out.

"Heh, You sure can talk kid. Is there a dance that goes with this little song?"

"I have all the leverage in this negotiation. Are you sure it's _smart_ to blow me off so easily?"

I tightened my grip on the sword's steady hilt.

"You see… You've made a lot of assumptions here, one of them being that I give a damn about being rich. I don't care about money, it's all means to an end. Like a tool. What I value is power… and the ability to test that power against the powerful like steel sharpening steel. You're a ninja, ain't you kid? Show me some resolve. You dare speak about robbing my apprentice from me? Fine! Come and challenge this so-called vassal you'd take from me. **Haku! Come!** "

The room was hemispherical, about a radius of 50 meters from the center of the room to any wall. The ceiling hung 10 meters high, only one entrance and exit in the room.

I covered the exit to the outside, shuffling my feet over to be as sure as I could, Haku stood at the entrance that'd carry you deeper into the mansion.

 _She is forked._

"You heard her, didn't you? That's right child, she wants to snatch you from me. Wants nothing more but to rob you of your _purpose_ , the _reason for existence_.

"Master, I will not fail you!" My subordinate responded, her voice laced with blatant disdain.

Haku lunged forward into a body flicker, the aerodynamics of her movement a testament to her innate artful skill.

Senbon launched as she rotated, sailing through the air in perfect trajectories.

The dark-headed Hyuga whipped into a circle like a tornado, repelling the senbon and sending them flying.

From seemingly nowhere, she flung handfuls of smoke bombs bursting as they struck the ground into blackened smoggy clouds.

"Who do you think trained Haku? You think a lack of visibility will make you safe? HA!"

She landed, body flickering off to the side while hands came together weaving signs with zero delay.

 _Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram._

Her body bent over forward, her hands striking the ground with focused resolve.

"[Summoning Jutsu!]" The girl chanted.

From a cloud appeared a Snow White eagle. It stood 3 meters tall and 10 meters wide with its wings unfurled and outstretched.

"Hey! I don't always get to be choosy when I'm in a bind… Vacuum Palm!" She finished, her arm stretched toward Haku.

Haku lurched ungracefully from the floor, being ripped from her footing and sucked through the air.

The eagle released a thunderous bolt of lightning ripping through space aimed straight for her.

Haku vanished as the bolt touched down, frying the floor into a singed carbon black.

The eagle screeched to the girl "Inside? You call me Inside?" The beast complained.

Her hands came together into a Tiger seal.

 _Flames are about the worst option unless you can melt Haku's ice._

In the girl's place spawned four clones, my jaw-dropping as I realized my assumption was off the mark.

Haku doubled her efforts, then went further beyond tripling and quadrupling it. A hail of senbon swarmed down at the weak points of each body. They were aimed to be winning blows rather than killing blows.

My teeth ground together, wishing that Haku could overcome whatever mental block was holding her back from becoming a true assassin.

 _She's too soft._

Spikes of ice shredded the ground. Pops signifying the destruction of a few clones, more senbon focus-thrown towards the number of depleting bodies.

 **Tink, Tink, Tink.**

Every senbon that slipped through her guard was blocked by a white armor manifesting to encase her.

 _ **Hmm?**_ I watched perplexed.

A field of razor wire was laid sometime during the chaos, either by the clones or herself.

Haku stumbled forward, tripping over the wire, the Hyuga springing into action in the moment of her error.

A shard of azure ice appeared from thin air, blocking white rods from ensnaring her into a box trap and giving her the time to body flicker back out.

Something didn't feel right. As much as I believed everything lined up, her combat style was nothing like the Orochimaru of my memories.

Seeing the futility of the Senbon, my subordinate gave them up instantly, changing tactics.

 _Yes! This is why I know you're a natural, despite being as soft as you are._

One of Haku's hands slid behind his back again, hiding his hand sign, a spike of ice spawning behind the Hyuga lancing toward her back.

A fierce electrical attack shot across the room, a flash of yellow current barely missing Haku.

The Hyuga darted sideways, but not quite quickly enough.

 _Good choice! You needed to subtract one of them from the picture, and might as well go for the jutsu caster._

The ice ripped the white plating right off her arm, her blood pattering to the floor in weighted drops. While twisting around the spike, she managed to avoid further damage.

But despite being the last physical body, she popped.

Her body morphed back to her natural state.

I gasped, honestly shocked.

Before me stood a similar height girl, probably even younger. Her white long hair stretched the better part of halfway down her back. Her eyes are still the dojutsu of the Hyuga, but what really captured my attention was when my gaze fell on her forehead, those two red dots unmistakably the birthmark of the Kaguya clan.

The heat in the tiled underground cavern sapped away, all energy stolen and crystalized into frozen jagged azure pillars spiking through the tiles, thrusting into the space the Hyuga stood mere milliseconds ago.

"You'd rob me of my purpose!?" Haku screeched.

A smile floated onto my face. A deep satisfaction rose in me at her need to be my tool, and no one else's.

The white-headed child slid backward, her sandals crying out in moans under the intense friction pulling her to a stop.

"Well, this might turn out to be interesting after all. You're quite a unique squirt. Hold on Haku." I spoke out to the combatants, composed and confident that Haku would emerge victorious now that I was certain she was no true monster in disguise. "Tell you what. Leave your village behind and follow me. I will train you to be the best weapon you can be."

The Hyuga child didn't seem to ponder the idea, flat out refusing me with a wave of her hand.

"No thank you. I'm quite competent myself. I don't require a master, what I need are allies."

My blood ran cold, the thrill working me up.

 _DOUBLE KEKKEI GENKAI JUST LIKE MEI! She is special. Her potential could be higher than Haku's, and her personality is polished enough to get use from her instantly. I want her. I want her._

"Haku. Win at any cost! Hear me?!"

"Yes-sir." She replied back.

Haku's hands spread apart.

Azure blue crystallized ice began materializing from the moisture in the air, condensing together forming one mirror, then two, until there were nine mirrors in all.

I grinned, excited by the activation of Haku's _true_ bloodline trait, no longer relying on those cheap imitation tricks anymore.

I unshackled my greatest creation. A ninja that if she could get some grit would be stronger than even me.

Haku's brilliant reflection shone off the glasslike material of every mirror.

Haku bent and curled around the fingers on each of his hands. A blob of water spawning from nothing peeking out of the face of the mirror.

Haku launched himself out of the mirror, my veteran eyes hardly able to trace his outline.

He's only gated by the speed of light. No typical human has a chance.

The Hyuga's chest was slammed by the orb of water, trapping her in the water prison jutsu.

"I've won Zabuza-sama." Haku announcer cheerfully.

Static buzzed, a flash of yellow bolted toward my subordinate, but she retreated back to her mirror with the imprisoned Mina in hand.

The eagle stared at the mirror, the unmistakable expression of shock carved overtop the animalistic features.

"Well, that's about all I could hope for. Haku might be my equal if her heart wasn't so fragile. KID - YOU READY TO BE _MY_ VASSAL?"

The dumb eagle raked his talons along the exterior of the mirror, not even scratching it.

My smile vanished, the translucent orb of water turned an oily black, shrinking, and then popping.

From out of the bubble emerged the Hyuga, not looking any worse for the wear.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

 **(Mina POV)**

The water gushed into the black seal, swallowing it into the abyss.

After enough was swallowed, the Water Prison fell apart, freeing me to move inside Haku's own mirror.

The mirror only had two dimensions, lacking any depth as I felt cartoonish.

My hands clapped together, folding into the proper hand-signs.

Lightning poured out, cooking the interior dimension of the mirror, spraying myself with current in the process.

"Araaraaraaraa!" I spasmed.

The figure of the long-haired boy convulsed about, my attack apparently effective.

"WHAT?!" Zabuza gasped.

He vanished from the mirror entirely, but still remained crisp and clear in every other mirror.

I unleashed another jolt.

It found its way from my mirror to his, like every shard is connected in one way or another.

The boy tumbled forward out of his mirror, his clothing smoldering and smoking.

Smiling but plenty worse for the wear myself, I leaned forward, smashing my forehead into the solid ice, unable to permeate it's barrier to my shrill building terror.

I watched as Haku slowly rose to his feet, his chest exposed, the clothing now tattered and in rags.

Two large gashing scars ran across the chest as flat as a board in a mangled 'x' mutilating it.

"She's a true warrior! Willing to undergo anything to gain an advantage. She can take either gender identity without a risky transformation jutsu."

I unleashed a series of strikes to the mirror, unable to crack or scuff it, unable to process what I just heard, only focused on not losing this bet and match.

Hyboren who was frozen in place up till now unable to intervene when we both were inside the mirrors burst into motion, launching at the wounded and immobilized Haku.

 _Yes! This is my win!_

While mid celebration, my familiar cried out.

Feathers scattered.

A red rain, mist, and whistling air followed a vicious overhead slash of the executioner's blade.

Hyboren's beak split apart zooming towards Zabuza to peck his head.

With the twist of his body, Zabuza avoided the beak from swallowing his head, instead his right shoulder was clamped down upon.

A talon swept horizontally landing in his gut.

Zabuza's figure deteriorated, liquidizing, and ending as a puddle on the floor.

Behind Hyboren appeared a shadow, a murderous intent creeping unapologetically, the hostility seeping into your pores producing a drenching cold sweat.

The gray blade cleaved down my trusted mounts length, splitting into two.

His halves each lifelessly tilted over falling to the ground, staining the wood with goopy blood and bile.

" **I knew I should have handled this!"** Izuna boomed.

"That's right kid. Show me what happens when your plans fall through. Show me what you're made of."

An oppressive weight exerted over my body like everything suddenly was one hundred times heavier. Twitching a finger was in itself a challenge.

NO!

I clamored for control, unwilling to hand it over to that fucking cunt.

I pulled and pulled. Fighting to eject Izuna from the driver's seat.

 _ **What are you doing? Let me claim my victory retard.**_

 _MINE. GET OUT._

We struggled in a game of internal tug of war, clawing at each other to maintain control and dethrone the other.

A black shade in the shape of a person flung me around, beating me as I gave as hard as i took.

My rage for Being-X being channeled to fight the entity not much different.

After an exhausting and hard-fought battle, I reigned victorious. My head emptied leaving just me, the way it always should have been.

I returned, just to spot Hyboren's corpse lying on the tile.

Unable to look away by averting my gaze, or closing my eyes, I stared at the lifeless husk of a bird, probably my greatest asset from my summoning contract.

 _ **He was ripped from us by him.**_

My Insides burned, a building heat like a smoldering furnace.

 _ **He disrespected you. You have the power to punish him, do you not? Why resist?**_

 _...Life isn't about throwing a tantrum every time something doesn't go your way Izuna._

 _ **Your words and actions seem at odds. Plagued by the duality of your existence?**_

 _Maybe. I'm still learning after all, but at this moment, I know what not to do, and that's lose Hyboren without receiving assets in return._

Zabuza dropped to a knee, checking on Haku's condition.

I pressed my palm to the mirror, drilling bone perpendicular to the mirror's surface. The pressure rose and soared, but the ice still didn't give way.

The chakra swirling about this world cycled as a current, and when recognizing it was the same cyan blue as Haku's, I had an idea.

Using the seal, I vacuumed as much chakra out of the prison. The power dwindled until there wasn't enough chakra to sustain the jutsu, and it snapped under its own requirements.

My prison dissolved, ejecting me back to my world.

The demonic ninja stood, turning back to face me, his stature towering over me even as I stood to my feet.

"You are full of surprises."

"Why did you interfere?"

"Well kid, I'd like to say I was pissed you kept hiding behind a Henge, and teach you a lesson… But I was simply looking out for both of our self-interest. Neither of us would be happy with a dead vassal, ain't that right?"

"... I beat your apprentice. You will uphold our agreement." I spat between gritted teeth.

"And what if say I didn't want to, what then?"

My muscles tensed, the gaze of a predator falling down on me.

"That's simple. If we can't work together, I'll instead dedicate myself to sabotaging your future coup, ruining your reputation, wasting all your resources, and allying with your greatest enemies to assure no recovery."

Zabuza burst into laughter, a low hearty chuckle sounding right out of a mental asylum.

"Oh? Big talk for a squirt in over her head! I'd love to see that, I really would, but I think accepting your offer might be more fun. So, Fine. You win this time kid, so you better get to explaining before I change my mind."

┬┴┬┴┤ _神の起源├┬┴┬┴_

 _ **A/N:**_ _No excuses for the long delay between chapters, shoulda updated sooner. One of my friends set up a subsection of his discord to chat about my fanfic if you want to drop by, meet some new people, and leave feedback or questions about the story, here is the end of the discord invite link for you all ' /2mrCcW '_

 _/2mrCcW_

 _..._


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